Must Love Dragons
by Wynter Nytes
Summary: Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student- that is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What’s a girl to do? CW/OC
1. Chapter 1

Wynter Nytes here, with yet another story. This one is slightly different in the fact that it doesn't revolve around Hermione or any of the trio. Sorry. :)

However, Sarah Beth Adams is mine. Please do not borrow, take without asking, pinch, pilfer, rob, filch, snatch, grab, seize, run off with, or steal her in any way.

Thank you, and have a nice day.

Also, I'd like to acknowledge Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia for helping me with the research needed for this story.

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR (Reasons for rating): **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student- that is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Disclaimer: **THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE YOU WILL SEE IT. I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, OWN HARRY POTTER, ITS CHARACTERS, OR ANY AFFILIATES.

**Publish Date: Sunday, March 12, 2006. 9:41 p.m. **

* * *

Sarah Adams grinned as she pressed her face flat against the taxi's window. As the scenery flew buy, she could feel her heart beating faster in excitement. She couldn't wait to get out and explore the wonders of London! Sarah held her pet's cage tightly in her arms as the taxi turned off Bette Lane and into an apartment complex.

Good. The moving truck was already there. She giggled wildly and bolted out of the taxi before it was even fully stopped, throwing cash into the front seat. She looked up at the dingy complex, and was unperturbed by the peeling paint, cracked windows, and the shouting in apartment 13- the one next to hers.

She sighed happily. It was her very first place. And it was perfect. She bounded over to the door of number fourteen, and slid the key in the lock. Holding in a breath of anticipation, she slowly pushed the door open. She was surprised with what she saw. While the outside was rather… dreary (though she didn't care), the inside was pleasantly nice. Everything was clean and fully functioning, from what she could see.

Sarah grinned and clapped her hands together as she jumped up and down. Her moment of childish elation was interrupted, however, as a voice grunted from behind her,

"Oi! Lady- do you think you could move? This couch isn't getting any lighter!"

Sarah turned and immediately flattened herself against the wall as the rude moving men shoved past her. Even this, however, couldn't quash her jubilation. She fluttered about the moving men, much to their annoyance, and squealed happily as each piece of furniture was put into place. After a few hours of this excitement, the moving men were finally gone, and the sun had begun to set outside. Sarah sighed happily and curled into her loveseat, watching as the sun sank below her patio.

_Can this get any better?_ Sarah asked herself as she rose from the couch, ready to order takeout. After she dialed the number, Sarah squealed in delight at the sound of the voice on the other end. British accents… she'd never tire of them.

Sarah was from the United States- Seattle, Washington, to be more exact. Her studies of archaeology and anthropology had brought her to a well-known university in London. Now in her final year of schooling, she was ready to face the world with her notebook and tool kit in hand.

"Miss? Would you please order something?"

Sarah had spent the past few minutes rambling to the poor boy on the other end of the line about how she loved his particular accent. She'd just started on his pronunciation of the letter 'R' when he interrupted. Unperturbed, she complied with his request and ordered a medium cheese pizza.

She couldn't bite back a grin as she recited _her _address for him. Sarah sighed happily and placed the phone back in its cradle. She was finally out on her own, and it absolutely thrilled her. Her parents hadn't been too happy with her decision to move to London, but Sarah didn't care. She was too restless to stay in Seattle. Sure, it was a big city, but that's all it was: a city. Sarah wanted the world, and she didn't care how long it took her to explore it.

A snuffling sound in the corner of her living room drew her attention. She giggled and bounded over to the cage of her pet chinchilla, Kirby, with a bag of treats in her hand. She let Kirby out of his cage and let him stretch his weary limbs while she fed him some treats. Sarah scratched him behind the ears and looked out the sliding glass door that opened directly off her living room. One of the perks of living on the first floor was having a tiny backyard, even if it did mean hearing the footsteps of her upstairs neighbors. She stood and peered outside to the tiny garden.

Obviously the person who had lived here before hadn't cared for the garden, as it was overrun with weeds and garbage. Sarah pushed the door open, careful to keep Kirby inside, and began to explore the little bit of vegetation. Her "backyard" was more like a small square patch of land. It was private, however, as it was surrounded by three high walls. The patio was nice, big enough for a barbeque and a chair or two. Sarah shivered from the night air and turned to go back inside, when a sudden movement and a flash of red caught her eye.

Pausing, her hand still on the door handle, Sarah turned to get a better look. A small bush in the corner was quivering slightly, and odd snorting noises were emitting from behind it. Thinking a small dog had gotten trapped in her yard, Sarah moved towards the bush to investigate. Before she could reach the bush, however, a red blur shot out at her, hitting her in the chest and knocking her to the ground.

After regaining her senses, Sarah froze after seeing what lay upon her. It was red, scaly, and the size of a bulldog. But that wasn't what shocked Sarah. What shocked Sarah was the fact that it was a DRAGON.

Yep. A dragon. Complete with black claws, gold eyes, and thick wings.

Sarah felt like she was about to pass out.

The dragon's claws began to tighten, and she cried out in pain as she felt them puncture her skin through her t-shirt. Struggling and letting out frantic shrieks, Sarah tried to push the creature off her. She froze when it opened its mouth to reveal sharp fangs dripping with saliva. The dragon sucked in a deep breath of air and made a choking sound. Its body began to emit heat. Sarah's heart sank.

_Don't tell me it breathes fire…_

* * *

Charlie Weasley frowned in annoyance as he filled out paperwork for the Ministry. A small baby dragon had just managed to escape, and that meant emergency search parties and muggle security. His supervisor had just finished yelling at him for this rare mistake. The new cages sold to their company, Dragon Research and Care Options (D.R.A.C.O.), had been faulty. Fortunately, only little Raltred had managed to escape.

Charlie groaned. The only problem with that was the fact that Raltred was new to D.R.A.C.O., and therefore had not been de-fanged. Charlie let his head drop to the table. This was bloody perfect. He'd be lucky to even keep his job.

"CHARLIE!" A loud shout came from the next room, followed by the scuffling of feet as Charlie's partner, Alan Grey, came bursting through the door. Panting, Alan wiped the sweat from his brow.

"What is it, Alan?" Charlie asked wearily, "Did another cage malfunction?" Alan shook his head.

"The communications department intercepted a muggle's phellytone- "

"Telephone," Charlie corrected.

"Right, telephone. They intercepted a muggle's phellytone call to the please-men. Raltred has been spotted in London!"

Like a flash, Charlie was up from his desk and struggling with his overcoat. Pulling his wand from his pocket, Charlie barked orders to Alan.

"Get the retrieval team in gear and ready to go. Tell them to be prepared to obliviate muggles!" Alan nodded and ran off as Charlie gathered an old, collapsible cage, shrinking it to fit in his pocket. After checking around for anything else he might need, Charlie apparated away with a loud POP!

He appeared at the communication's module on the third floor of the D.R.A.C.O office building. Taylor Barker, Head of Department, was there to greet him with a location readout. Spreading the readout on a table, Taylor explained the meaning of it.

"Our calculations indicate that the call came from this apartment complex in London," Taylor said, indicating the area on a map. Charlie didn't understand a lot of what the Communications Department did; due to the fact it included a great deal of muggle technology, but accepted what Taylor was telling him.

"Raltred is a Ukrainian Broad-Wing, so that much distance in such a short time is fairly reasonable," Charlie said, scooping the readout into his hands. "Thanks, Taylor. I'll inform you of our status once the team and I reach London." Taylor nodded and turned back to his work. Charlie disapparated to the holding area where his retrieval team waited

"Ready?" The team nodded and pulled their wands out, ready to obliviate any muggle they might come up against when they arrived. Charlie took a deep breath and on the count of three, the team apparated to London.

Their arrival went rather smoothly, with Alfred Knoxly, a big, burly man, only having to obliviate two muggles. Quickly, Charlie, Alan, and the rest of their team moved to the apartment where the call came from. Just as they were about to burst in, Alan held up his hand.

"Shh! Do you hear that?" The team strained their ears to hear what their comrade did. Faint screams were coming from the next apartment over. Without a word, Charlie and his squad burst through that door, knocking over boxes in the entryway of the apartment. Alan pointed to the yard where a woman lay on her back, Raltred perched on her chest.

"Shit," Alan muttered, blasting the sliding glass door open with a simple spell. Charlie followed, motioning for his team to come behind slowly. He cursed as he saw Raltred open his mouth to breath a flow of fire onto the poor woman.

This was not good.

* * *

Sarah scrunched her eyes shut to keep the tears of fright from escaping her. Suddenly, the weight on her chest disappeared. Sarah snapped her eyes open just in time to see a team of men wrestling the dragon into a large cage. Breathing heavily, Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes and struggled to sit up. She started in surprise as a man with blazing red hair dropped to his knees to help her up.

Charlie looked the woman over carefully. Blood was beginning to seep through her shirt, but not in alarming amounts. He assumed it was from Raltred's claws. Bringing his attention to the woman's face, he grinned slightly at her hair. It was a rather interesting shade of pink, and it reminded him of Tonks. Her hair, however, was long and held up in a messy ponytail.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" Charlie asked, pulling her to her feet slowly. The woman held her chest, dabbing at the blood that was there.

"Uh… y-yes," Sarah stuttered. She was still trying to get over the shock of nearly being eaten by a DRAGON. She focused her attention on the man. He was handsome, that was to be sure, and Sarah had the odd urge to giggle. _Must be the shock,_ she thought to herself. "Who are you?" The man smiled.

"Charlie. Now, I want to look at this, okay?" Charlie held up his wand in front of her. Sarah looked at it in confusion.

"A stick? Why do you need-?"

"Obliviate," Charlie said calmly. Sarah's eyes slid out of focus and her shoulders drooped. Charlie led her inside and had her sit on the couch. He placed her odd pet on her lap and left through the sliding door, closing it behind him.

Sarah's eyes opened just as Charlie and his team disapparated. She sat in a stupor for a while, trying to figure out what she had been doing. Kirby just sat in her lap, content and without a worry in the world.

Sarah was startled from her daze from the ringing of the doorbell. Gently, she set Kirby on the floor and answered it.

"One medium cheese pizza and a Pepsi?" The pimply teenager asked in a bored tone. Sarah nodded dumbly. "That'll be 12.95," the boy replied. Sarah stood still for a moment, before torpidly walking to her purse and pulling out her wallet. Handing a wad of cash to the boy, Sarah took the pizza and soda, closed the door and walked back to the living room.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Sarah stared at the pizza.

_When did I order this?_

* * *

Charlie returned to his office with a small smile on his face. He hadn't lost his job; in fact, he'd been given a pay raise for apprehending Raltred so quickly. His small smile turned into a large grin as he remembered the pink-haired lady at the apartment. It was refreshing to find someone who liked to be different. She was kind of cute, too. Too bad he had to wipe her memory.

Throwing his overcoat onto his chair, Charlie picked up a letter from his brother, Bill. He smiled as he read it. Bill had finally proposed to someone. He rolled his eyes as he pictured his mum's happy expression. The wedding was to be held in eight weeks. Grinning, Charlie rolled up the letter and thought for a moment.

Maybe it was time for a surprise visit to the Burrow…


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the lovely reviews!

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student- that is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Chapter 2 Publish Date: Monday, July 3rd: 9:00pm**

* * *

Charlie stifled a grin as he tiptoed his way up the front walk of the Burrow. It was early morning, and the autumn sun was just coming over the hills in the distance. Charlie's stomach growled loudly. He couldn't wait for some of his mum's delicious cooking… His thoughts of bacon and eggs were disrupted by a deafening, gruff shout.

"OI! YOU THERE! IDENTIFY YOURSELF!"

Charlie grimaced and held up his hands. While Kingsley Shacklebolt had been made Minister of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix was now a public organization, the Burrow was still an outpost to the Order. The threat of Voldemort had vanished with his death, but his loyal Death Eaters still remained, meaning "constant vigilance". Mad Eye Moody, assigned to the Burrow outpost, was taking his job just as seriously as if Lord Voldemort still lived.

"C'mon, Moody! It's me, Charlie!" He called affably. He tentatively took a stride forward, but immediately had to sidestep as a large read beam of light shot from the front door to his foot.

"Only a Death Eater would say that, you impostor!" Not able to get his wand out in time, Charlie was forced to dive behind a small bush as another curse was sent his way. His suitcase was not so fortunate. Hit by the spell, it burst into a thousand pieces.

Charlie scrambled to his feet lest Moody decided to incinerate the shrub as well, but found that the situation had been taken care of. Bill had managed to rid Moody of his weapon, and was already striding out onto the lawn to greet his brother.

Bill's scarred and mangled face twisted into a wry grin as he embraced his brother, thumping him on the back.

"I take it you got my letter!"

Charlie laughed and gave his kin a sturdy handshake, nodding his head. "Yeah, congratulations, mate! You finally popped the question!" Bill scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, well, we've been living together for a year now. I figured the time had finally come."

Charlie gave Bill a knowing look. "Yeah, and mum kept nagging you about 'living in sin'." Bill shrugged as if to say 'yeah, that too'. The pair was interrupted by a loud squeal from the front door. Bill rolled his eyes.

"Speak of the devil. Looks like mum's noticed you've arrived." Nothing more could be said between the two brothers as Charlie was immediately body slammed by Molly Weasley. She gave him a fierce hug and then pulled back, positively beaming.

"Charlie, oh heavens, what a wonderful surprise!" Molly promptly began to fuss over Charlie's ruffled appearance, scowling when he mentioned Moody's actions. "That man overreacts to everything, I swear!" Molly pulled the two men into the house, shooting a murderous glare at Moody when he attempted to prevent Charlie from entering. The table in the kitchen was packed already, but that didn't stop Molly from adding an extra place for her son. Charlie greeted everyone at the table with a jovial grin and quickly sat down, ready to eat.

Fleur, his brother's fiancé, sat across from him, and gave him a friendly smile. A few members of the Order were present; Remus Lupin and his new wife Tonks (she still refused to go by Nymphadora even though her surname was now Lupin), Sturgis Podmore, and his father, Arthur. His other siblings, Percy, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George were notably absent. Before he could inquire about this, however, Lupin addressed him.

"Ah, Charlie! Good to see you! How has business been going?"

"There was a bit of a mess with faulty cages, about a week ago," Charlie replied, filling his plate with eggs and toast. Arthur looked concerned.

"Really? What happened?" He asked his son. Charlie recounted his tale quickly, but included the woman he had rescued in his telling.

"…She had pink hair, too," Charlie continued, nodding his head at Tonks. Tonks, sitting next to Lupin, scrunched her nose up and her hair turned from pink to black. Lupin rolled his eyes and Tonks shrugged her shoulders.

"What? I have this insatiable need to be different. Get used to it."

Charlie laughed along with the others and relaxed completely, something he hadn't been able to do lately with his workload. "Where are Ron and the others?" he asked. Molly sighed loudly.

"Well Percy's at work, as always, but the others are spending all their time at Fred and George's joke shop. They left this morning to help them with some experiments of theirs."

Bill grinned at Charlie from across the table. Everyone knew of Molly's dislike for the joke shop. Arthur patted his wife gently on the back.

"Now, now, Molly! Harry and Ron have had their hands full with work at the Auror Department, and goodness knows it is well to get Hermione out of the office."

"Is Ginny still training with the Harpies?" Charlie asked around a mouthful of toast. Molly nodded, but her frown made apparent to all exactly what she thought of Ginny's career path.

"Don't know why that girl chose Quidditch of all things…" she said hotly. Arthur just shook his head with a knowing smile upon his face.

"So what do you have planned today, Charlie?" Arthur asked, changing the subject quickly. Charlie groaned as he remembered his clothing situation.

"Well, it looks like a quick shopping trip is in order," he said genially, looking pointedly at Moody. The man harrumphed and sent his eye spinning furiously. At the mention of shopping, Molly perked up.

"I need to go into Diagon Alley, we should go together," she suggested happily. Charlie's eyes widened at the thought of his mother going shopping for clothing with him. Bill snickered into his tea, and the other guests looked elsewhere, hiding smiles of their own.

"Ah, you know, I actually want to go into the muggle part of London for clothing…" Charlie said. Molly's face fell. "But I can meet up with you in Diagon Alley later!" He added as an afterthought. Molly agreed to this and Charlie breathed a silent sight of relief.

As much as he loved his mum, Charlie didn't think he could stand having her shop with him.

Who would?

* * *

Sarah sighed in frustration as she struggled to type out the last few sentences of her essay for her advanced archaeology class. Sitting in a local coffee shop, Sarah could practically feel the caffeine rushing through her veins as she finished her fourth cup of ultra black coffee. She grimaced as she reached the cold bottom of the cup. She tossed it into the trash and returned to her work. Her counselor back home hadn't been lying when he told her this new university was going to be a challenge. She certainly enjoyed the classes she was taking, but for it only being the first week of class, Sarah was already feeling the strain of the work load. She was also going to have to look for a job within the next few days to help pay the rent and bills.

Moaning again, Sarah checked her watch and nearly had a heart attack. She had world studies next, and it looked like she was going to be _extremely _late. Snapping her laptop shut, Sarah bolted out the door, nearly hitting a red headed man on his way in.

Sarah shouted back an apology as she crossed the street. She yelped loudly as a taxi driver threatened to flatten her.

"Watch where you're going!" she shouted, glaring at the driver. Sarah rolled her eyes and continued on her way. It was going to be a _long_ day…

She raced through campus and into Dean Hall, up the stairs and down the left corridor. Opening the door carefully, she tiptoed into the classroom. Professor Vance paused in his lecture as Sarah sidled into the third row of seats. He glanced at his watch amusedly.

"Miss Adams," he said dryly, "So nice of you to join us in these last fifteen minutes." Sarah gave an apologetic grin as she pulled out her notebook. Professor Vance returned to his lecture.

"Europe is one of the richest sources in the world for historical and archaeological culture, as you well know, stemming back hundreds of thousands of years." Professor Vance stated loudly, waking a few of the sleeping students in the back. Sarah grinned as the boy next to her snored softly. She loved this class, almost as much as her advanced archaeology class.

Sarah pulled out her pen and began to run its tip up and down the side of the sleeping boy's face. He snorted once and slapped his hand across his nose. Sarah giggled furiously, but stopped at the glare she received from Professor Vance.

"…This is why the school board has considered an exciting proposition for one lucky student," he continued, pacing slowly across the floor. At this, Sarah sat up a little straighter. _Exciting proposition?_

"One student will have the opportunity to do an independent field exercise, with their very own archaeological digging crew, in the country of their own choice." Hushed, excited murmurs erupted from the students in the lecture hall. Sarah couldn't believe her ears. This was exactly the type of opportunity she was looking for! Professor Vance grinned.

"Now, I know all of you are excited, but winning this opportunity will not be easy. You must submit the following to be counted in the running: An extended essay detailing why you would be the perfect candidate for this opportunity. It should be several pages long." There was a rustling of paper as students hurriedly began scratching out the requirements.

"You must also include a thesis paper, within which you will specify the country of your choice _and _what exactly it is you will be looking for in this country. Ancient civilizations? Lost ruins? Whatever it may be, it must be backed up with solid historical evidence that what you are looking for is actually there. The paper is due a month from now, with the winner to be announced shortly thereafter." Professor Vance glanced at the clock.

"This assignment is not required, nor will it be graded. But I suggest you do it for your own benefit." Professor Vance motioned to the clock. "Class dismissed." There was a flurry of movement as the students rushed out the door. Sarah, however, stayed behind.

Emilio Vance glanced up from his desk as a shadow fell over it. He bit back a grin.

"Ah, Miss Adams! How may I help you?" Sarah bounced eagerly upon her toes.

"So, whoever wins the essay thingy, gets to travel to a country of _any _choice?" Emilio stood, and this time could not hold back a broad smile.

"Yes, Miss Adams. This essay _thingy, _as you put it, is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a student like you." He walked with Sarah to the door. "I wish I had had this opportunity." Emilio opened the door for Sarah, and she started out. Professor Vance stopped her before she got too far, however.

"Sarah," he called, "You have a very good shot at winning this." Sarah's eyes widened excitedly, and with a quick salute, she dashed down the hallway, and out of sight. Chuckling, Emilio turned and walked back to his desk. _Such an odd girl… _

* * *

A week since his arrival to the Burrow, Charlie found himself arguing with his mother as she pleaded with him to stay longer. He had been there long enough, and had missed plenty of work. Molly was a little put out, to say the least.

"But you have to stay for the wedding!" she protested, fussing about him as he shook hands with Remus. Charlie smiled and stooped to kiss her on the cheek.

"Mum, the wedding is in six weeks. I just wanted to stop by for a little visit beforehand," he replied. Molly clutched him to her and gave him a fierce hug.

"I know, it's just that you never visit anymore! You're always so busy with those darn dragons!"

Charlie gave his brother a pleading look. Bill chuckled and intervened quickly.

"He's right mum. He's got plenty of time to go to Romania and back." Molly huffed and gave Bill an annoyed glance.

"Well, alright."

Arthur Weasely placed an arm around his wife, winking at his sons. "Have a safe trip back, Charlie." Charlie shook his father's hand before bending to pick up his (new) suitcase. Nodding to Fleur and Bill, he quickly disapparated.

* * *

Sarah cooed gently to Kirby as she finished squishing the last of the hair dye from the bottle. The chinchilla, sitting on the toilet lid, looked bored and a little less than amused as Sarah massaged the dark, plum-colored hair dye into her scalp. A week had passed since the assignment was handed out, and she had just finished it. It wasn't due for three more weeks, but she'd made sure to finish it as soon as possible. Sarah wanted to be first in the running for the trip of a lifetime. She was celebrating the completion of her essay with some good old hair dye.

Kirby chirped suddenly. Sarah gave him an annoyed look. Ripping the gloves off her hands, she carried him to his dinner bowl and poured his food.

"Dinner is served, Mister Kirby." Sarah glanced at the clock. Twenty more minutes until she could wash her hair. Pouring herself a bowl of Cheerios, Sarah munched happily as she pulled out her completed papers. She prayed that she would get the chance to lead an excavation. It was something Sarah had wanted to do her whole life. Doing it while still a student would open up some major doors for her in the career world.

She shrugged and dropped the essay back on the table. She felt pretty confident- she knew she had a good chance. Sarah groaned suddenly as she realized she forgot a cover page for her thesis paper. Shuffling over to her computer, Cheerios still in hand, she pecked out a title.

"_Romania- A Land Undiscovered"_

* * *

Well, that's it for chapter two!

Please review!

-Wynter


	3. Chapter 3

I'm back! Yes! Oh my goodness, I have been away far too long. I am deeply, deeply sorry for leaving this story for such a big amount of time, especially since it has only begun. The good news, however, is that we are moved in completely, school has started and I've got much more free time now.

Yes! Chapter Three is about to commence!!

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do

* * *

A few weeks had passed since Charlie left the Burrow, and any relaxation that he had found in his family home was now lost as he once again buried himself in his work. Charlie, now at D.R.A.C.O, was patrolling the intake room. It was here that newly received dragons were held for a week until they were given a clean bill of health before being moved into a larger habitat.

Charlie frowned at the dragon in the cage before him. It didn't look like it was doing too well. Its scales, while normally a bright red, were a dark maroon color, and its eyes were yellow with fever. Charlie pulled the diagnostics from its clip and examined it intently. Cursing loudly, he slammed it down and bellowed for his assistant. His assistant, a twitchy young man in training, came running. If he wasn't in such a bad mood, Charlie would have laughed at the boy's jumpiness.

"Egerton, what the hell is wrong with these diagnostics?" Charlie asked the boy roughly, shaking the clipboard for emphasis. Egerton, his face pale, gulped and took the sheet from Charlie. After scanning it quickly, he looked back to his mentor.

"I can't find anything, s-sir." Charlie's eyes flashed and he snatched the sheet back.

"Egerton, it says here that moonseed was given to him alongside raw meat. Moonseed can be deadly to Calypso Dragons." Egerton opened and closed his mouth a few times, but all he succeeded in doing was to resemble a rather stupid looking fish. Charlie ignored the boy and drew his wand. Egerton flinched, clearly expecting a harsh punishment. Charlie rolled his eyes and shot red sparks in the air. Instantly, the lab room was in an uproar. Staff members scurried about gathering supplies, specialists rushed forward, and Charlie quickly eased the dragon into a deep sleep. He turned to Egerton.

"Get me two herb consultants in here immediately, and tell Alan Grey to get his ass in here." Egerton jumped at Charlie's voice before quickly scampering away. Charlie turned back to the sick dragon and shook his head.

"Bugger."

* * *

Sarah giggled wildly as she pressed her face against the small airplane window. Land whizzed past beneath her as the plane began its descent. She could barely contain her excitement. Sarah still couldn't believe she had won the essay contest.

"I am the champion, I am the champion, no time for losers, 'cause I am the champion… of the world!" Sarah sang a favorite tune loudly, much to the amusement of her archaeological assistants. Sarah sighed happily. _My own digging crew… could it get any better? _With a bump, the plane landed, and a muffled voice came over the speaker.

Sarah squealed loudly. She turned to her temporary co-workers. "We're here! You guys, we're here!" Thomas Gribbs, a full time archaeologist, grinned at the young woman. His colleagues were also amused by Sarah's eager attitude, and shook their heads as she jumped about in the plane's small aisle.

As the group slowly progressed off the ramp and into the small airport, Sarah couldn't help but stare about her in awe. Sure, it was only an airport, but it was in a country she had never step foot in before. Sarah stopped suddenly and grinned like an idiot. _This is so freakin' cool._

A kind looking woman at the door greeted Sarah with a smile. "Bun venit la spre România." Sarah raised an eyebrow and tried to look intelligent.

"Er, right back at ya." Thomas stifled a laugh and pulled Sarah through the door. He sat her down in a blue plastic chair and wagged a finger at her.

"Stay here." Sarah nodded absentmindedly and began picking at her fingernails. Thomas raised an eyebrow before going off to retrieve their luggage. Sarah huffed and slid down in her seat. It wasn't long, however, before something caught her eye. She brushed her purple hair out of her face and bounded away, completely forgetting about Thomas and the others.

Thomas groaned as he and Adam Hart, a fellow digger, slid the last and the largest of the suitcases onto the cart.

"Holy shit, man, what did you pack?" Thomas puffed out, resting his hands on his knees. Adam shrugged and motioned for the rest of the group. Alison, an attractive brunette, held up a hand.

"Wait, where's the kid?" Thomas looked back at the plastic chairs and moaned. Sarah was nowhere to be seen.

"Cowabunga!" Sarah shrieked before sliding down the tube. She had found the childrens' play place, and was extremely excited to find a large, yellow slide practically calling her name. The children there found her great fun, and shouted and screeched as she did. The parents watching the children looked as if they didn't know whether to laugh or call security.

Sarah raced up the platform once more and stuck her feet into the tube. She turned to the kid next to her and gave him a mock solute before sliding down. Sarah stumbled out of the tube giggling, and smashed right into Thomas.

"Oof!" Sarah didn't stop laughing as Thomas collapsed. Thomas rubbed his head and looked up at her. "What happened to staying back at the seats?" Sarah shrugged and helped him up.

"Too boring. Let's go again!" Sarah started to dart away, by Thomas grabbed her arm.

"Uh, no, we've got hotel reservations." Sarah pouted but slid her shoes on and waved goodbye to the children. They waved back and shouted things she couldn't understand.

"Yay! We're at the hotel!" Sarah announced happily. Alison groaned and unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Do you have to announce everything you see?" Sarah wrinkled her nose at Alison's turned back. Up in their rooms, Sarah immediately ran to the window and wrenched the curtains back. Her smile diminished. _What kind of crap is this? I get the view of the brick building next door? _She shrugged and turned back to the others.

"So, what are we going to do first?"

Everyone groaned. Adam clapped his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"Sleep, that's what." He laughed at the crestfallen look upon Sarah's face. "Kid, we just flew god knows how many miles in a plane that was way too small. Cut us some slack, please!" Sarah shrugged and walked to the bed. Picking up her bag, she looked at the others.

"Fine, you guys can stay here, but I'm going out." She slipped into her jacket and opened the door.

"Wait," Thomas protested, "It's getting dark and you don't know the area. You can't go alone." Sarah gave him a cheeky grin and opened her bag.

"Who says I'm alone?" Thomas and the others stared in disbelief as a very disgruntled looking chinchilla poked its head out of the floppy bag. Alison snorted.

"You snuck a rat on the plane?"

Sarah sniffed.

"Kirby is not a rat. He's a chinchilla. And yes, I snuck him on. I couldn't find anybody to baby sit him." And with that, she slipped outside and slammed the door.

* * *

Charlie sighed in relief as he sank into his leather office chair. The Calypso Dragon's fever had been reduced, and it looked like it was going to make a full recovery. He rubbed his hand over his weary face.

_I hate trainees… _No matter. Now he could just relax a bit before apparating back to his flat. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. No more work…

BANG! Charlie started violently, nearly tumbling out of his chair as he tried to draw his wand. He growled lowly when he saw Alan laughing behind him.

"Sorry, mate, just couldn't resist." Charlie quickly composed himself before standing.

'What do you want, Alan?" Alan stood leaning against the doorway, causally cleaning his wand.

"Me and the boys are going out for a drink. You want to come?" Charlie sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry, I think I'm going to call it a night." Alan groaned and moved closer.

"C'mon, Charlie. You never go out with us anymore. Too wrapped up in your work." Charlie didn't say anything. Alan sighed. "Okay, look. It's only seven o'clock. One beer won't kill you." Charlie paused and looked back at his friend. He rolled his eyes. Grabbing his overcoat and wand, he pointed at Alan.

"One drink, and you're buying." Alan grinned and slapped Charlie on the back as they disapparated together.

* * *

Sarah whistled happily to herself as she walked the unfamiliar streets of Bucharest. She was absolutely fascinated with the mix of old culture and the new. Bright lights flashed down at her, while an archaic fountain bubbled beside her. Kirby, having been fed some snacks, chirped happily in her purse as she skipped along the streets. It was early winter in Romania, so the weather was pretty cold. Snow fall had not yet arrived, and wouldn't for the next few weeks. Sarah and her team had come to Romania at the last possible time of the year before having to wait for spring.

It was a cold night, but Sarah was warm from her walk and from the puffy black coat encasing her body. So she kept going, and going, like the little energizer bunny. Soon, however, she realized her mistake when she saw she had no idea where the hell she was.

_Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. _Sarah squinted up at the street signs, but could make no sense of it. She turned around to try and retrace her steps, but found the city was like a maze, and had no idea which way she had come from. Sarah looked around for a place to ask someone, but found everything was a little too seedy for her taste. She bunched her jacket closer and shushed Kirby gently as he squeaked. She froze suddenly as a voice called,

"Hey, you!" Against her better judgment, Sarah turned around. Two men, looking particularly grungy, were eying her. She gave them a weak smile before turning away. They shouted something again, and caught up with her. Sarah kept her head down and walked quicker. She heard laughing and one of the men said something in Romanian. She didn't say anything. The men grew angry at her lack of response.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," One man shouted with a heavy accent. His buddy reached for Sarah.

Charlie laughed at Alan stumbling drunkenly out of the pub. Charlie had stayed long after one drink, only to make sure his friend got home safely. And see him make a drunken fool of himself.

"Charlie, my man…" Alan spit out, swaggering up to him, "I'm so, s-so glad you were able to come. We should more often do this. I mean, yah, I mean that." Charlie rolled his eyes at Alan and debated whether or not to cast a sobering spell. While this was an amusing show, Charlie knew he'd feel guilty if he let Alan keep making a fool of himself. Before he could even think of drawing his wand, however, a voice stopped him quick.

"Honey, there you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

Sarah wrenched herself free from the thug and skipped determinedly to a kind looking man nearby. She grabbed his arm and smiled sweetly at him. Charlie looked down, confused by the purple- haired woman clinging to him. He gave an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry miss, I think you've got-,"

"Like I said, I've been looking _everywhere for you,"_ Sarah said loudly, jerking her head in the direction of the two bullies. Charlie glanced their way, and understanding dawned upon his face. He wrapped an arm around the girl and pulled her close.

"I'm sorry to have worried you, dear." He smiled down at the woman, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the two men huff in annoyance and move along. After making sure they were completely gone, He removed his arm.

Sarah sighed with relief. "Thank you so much. I don't know what I would've done if…" Charlie laughed and nodded his head.

"Don't mention it, ma'am. I'm glad to have helped." Charlie turned back to Alan, who was now vomiting into the bushes. Sarah started to leave, before remembering she had no idea where she was.

"Um, I'm really sorry about this," she began. Charlie turned back to her, but there was no annoyance upon his face, "I was wondering if you could tell me how to get back to the Ibis Nord Hotel. I'm kind of… lost." Charlie looked back at Alan, and then back at the girl. She was obviously a tourist, and American. He couldn't let himself say no. Turning back to Alan, he muttered a quiet sobering spell and then told him what exactly was going on. Alan nodded as he clutched his pounding head. He waved goodbye before disappearing into the bushes to disapparate.

Charlie turned back to the girl and held his arm out. "Shall we?" Giving a hesitant smile, Sarah took his arm.

"I'm Charlie, by the way," Charlie said, trying to break the silence that had settled. He looked down at the girl. She smiled at him.

"I'm Sarah." Charlie frowned slightly as she gazed at him. _I know that face…_ Slightly uncomfortable from his gaze, Sarah turned away. Charlie blinked and cleared his throat.

"So, what brings you to Romania?"

Sarah winced and laughed halfheartedly. "Was it that obvious I'm a tourist?" Charlie pretended to think it over.

"Well…yeah."

Sarah laughed outright and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Thanks for being honest."

"Anytime." Charlie again was drawn to her face. He knew he had seen it somewhere, but just couldn't place it.

"I'm actually here for school related stuff. You?"

Charlie fumbled for a reply. "I uh, work at a facility that researches… exotic animals."

Sarah's face lit up. Charlie couldn't help but notice how cute she was. "That's cool. Is it very interesting?" He shrugged.

"It has its moments." As the pair chatted, Charlie wracked his brain for anything that would make him remember her. Soon they reached the hotel, and he was no closer to finding out. Sarah turned to him and smiled.

"Well, thank you so much, Charlie. I-!" Sarah stopped suddenly as squeaking noises suddenly issued forth from her purse. Confused, Charlie stared as Sarah opened her bag up and pulled the oddest creature from it. "What's the matter?" she cooed gently. Suddenly, it hit him.

The dragon from a few weeks back! Raltred that had escaped. This was the girl whose yard Raltred had escaped into. Charlie remembered placing the furry little pet on her lap after obliviating her. He nearly laughed at the coincidence. Sarah turned to go inside the hotel, but Charlie didn't want her to go.

"Sarah!" He called suddenly. Sarah turned to Charlie, still nuzzling Kirby. He felt nervous suddenly. Shaking it off, he cleared his throat. "Would you- would you like to get lunch with me tomorrow?" Sarah blushed furiously. She suddenly felt the urge to run far away. Trying to contain her giddiness, she nodded and shifted Kirby to the other arm.

"Would here at one-thirty be alright?" She asked. Charlie nodded and started to back away.

"That's perfect. See you then?"

Sarah smiled. "See you then." She watched until Charlie disappeared from her sight before squealing quietly. She practically bounded up to her room and threw herself on the bed. Staring at Kirby, she sighed happily.

"I think this is going to be the best trip of my life, Kirbs." Kirby munched on his snack and rolled into a ball.

Charlie was smiling broadly as he apparated into his flat. Throwing his coat onto the couch, he soon followed it. Propping his feet up on the coffee table, he shook his head and laughed.

"I can't believe it's her." He replayed the memory of when they first met through his mind. Her hair was different, but she was definitely the same person.

Tomorrow sure was going to be interesting.

* * *

Well guys, that's it for now. And again, I'm so sorry it took so long to update. Things just got so hectic with the moving and the unpacking and all that. And I'm sorry its short, I just wanted to get something posted so you all knew I was alive.

Love y'all!

-Wynter


	4. Chapter 4

Yeah, chapter four, here we come! Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed, and again, thank you for being so patient with me. I know how frustrating it can be when someone won't update!

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Chapter 4 Publish Date: ****Tuesday, May 8, 2007****: 11:15pm**

* * *

Sarah paced back and forth nervously in her hotel room. It was almost one-thirty, and Charlie was due at the hotel any minute. Sarah was getting anxious. Anxiety wasn't in her nature, and so the very fact that she was getting anxious was giving her anxiety. It was all very confusing. Sarah groaned and collapsed into the chair near the television set. _I don't care how this date goes as long as I get out of this room, _Sarah mused to herself, _I've been cooped up all morning!_

It was true. Before Sarah was allowed to go digging anywhere, Thomas was making her review proper brushing and digging techniques. It was, unfortunately, dreadfully boring. On several occasions, Sarah thought she was going to poke her eyes out with the brush handle. Sarah cringed as she remembered Thomas berating her for stroking a brush too strongly.

_"Artifacts are delicate, Sarah," _he had said solidly, _"You could damage them with the slightest pressure." _Sarah frowned. Just imagining his voice was giving her a headache. Sarah brushed a stray piece of purple hair from her face and sighed, slouching down in her chair. Not a second later, a knock sounded on her door, and Sarah shot out of her chair like a bullet. She stopped suddenly before the door and smoothed her hair back, before wrenching the door open.

Charlie stood there with flowers in his hands. His red hair was a mess, just like it had been the night before, but he was dressed in nice slacks and a button up shirt, with a black wool coat over the top. Sarah couldn't help but find him incredibly sexy. She colored slightly at her own thoughts and cleared her throat.

"Charlie!" She said with a smile, "You made it!" Charlie smiled in return and held the bouquet of flowers out.

"These are for you," he replied with a bit of uncertainty. He was rewarded, however, with a bright grin from Sarah. She gestured for him to come in and shut the door behind him. Moving past him, Sarah searched for something to put the flowers in.

"I haven't been given flowers on a date in _forever_," she said excitedly. Charlie liked how his simple gift had made her so happy. He shrugged and scratched the back of his head.

"Er, I guess I'm just a little old fashioned," he replied. Sarah turned back and smiled once more.

"I like old fashioned," she said cheekily. She returned to her hunt for a makeshift vase, and Charlie took this time to examine his date in full daylight. Her hair was… purple. Very purple, like the color of a plum. He liked it. It was… different. It was pulled back into a messy bun with several strands framing her face. Her makeup was minimal, something Charlie was grateful for. She was dressed nicely, like he was, _thank god._ Charlie had wondered if the slacks and button up shirt was a little too formal for lunch, but she was dressed just as nicely, in a brown skirt and tank top, with a little pink jacket.

She was very pretty, Charlie decided. Realizing he was staring, he quickly averted his eyes to the rest of the room. Sarah turned back with a triumphant grin.

"Ta-da!" she announced loudly, holding up her makeshift vase. Charlie couldn't stifle his smile at her work. She had managed to stuff the bouquet into a rather small water bottle.

"It looks fabulous," he commented. Sarah beamed and set the vase on the windowsill, plucking a pink bloom out and sliding it behind her ear. "Ready to go?" Charlie asked. Sarah nodded.

"Just about, I need to feed Kirby." Charlie raised an eyebrow. _She must mean that strange little rat she had yesterday. _He followed her movements and watched as she pulled out a bag of something and poured its contents into a bowl. She then set it on the ground next to an odd looking water container. The pet was nowhere in sight, but she didn't seem too worried about this. She grabbed a heavy wool coat from the back of her chair and slid into it. Wrapping a thick scarf about her neck, she tucked it into the coat as she buttoned it up.

"Okay," she said as she straightened, "now I'm ready." Charlie held his arm out, and Sarah, laughing softly, took it. _Such a gentleman compared to the boys back home…_

"So, where are we going?" she asked excitedly as they exited the hotel. She still had yet to see Bucharest in daylight.

"Well," Charlie said as he pulled her out of the way of an oncoming car. She didn't seem to mind she had almost been run over. "I was thinking we would start with some lunch. That sound good to you?" Sarah tore her eyes from a fascinating building and blinked up at him.

"Yes, thank you _so much_. I am absolutely starving." Charlie, chuckling slightly, nodded to a corner café nearby.

"You think you can make it that far?" he joked. Sarah, glancing past him, put on a pained look.

"I don't know," she teased, "I think I might pass out right here." Charlie gave a mock gasp and began pulling her frantically towards the restaurant.

"Then let us hurry! Make haste! Make haste!" he said. Sarah giggled and suddenly broke out into a run.

"Last one there has to pay!" Charlie, at first was confused, because he had been intending to pay all along, but then realized her jest and shot off after her.

"I still say you cheated," Charlie said as they sipped at coffee and tea, waiting for their meals. Sarah shrugged and stirred her spoon absently.

"Whether I cheated or not doesn't really matter. You still got beaten by a _girl_." Charlie laughed and flicked a sugar cube at her. Sarah caught it and munched on it happily. There was a comfortable silence, which Charlie broke.

"So, tell me about yourself." He said. "I really don't know anything about you except that you are a student and your name is Sarah."

"Sarah with an 'H'," she added softly. Charlie grinned and conceded.

"Sarah with an 'H'. The most important letter," he said. Sarah smirked at him and set her coffee down.

"Okay, what do you want to know?" she asked. Charlie leaned back and stretched his arms, wincing slightly as his wand poked into his side. He ran through a few things in his mind before settling on some questions.

"Where exactly are you from? What are you studying? How old are you?" he asked rapidly. Sarah laughed and answered just as quickly.

"Seattle, Washington, USA. I'm studying archaeology and anthropology, and I can't believe you just asked me that!" she said, referring to the age question. Charlie smirked and took another sip of tea.

"I figured that you were young enough so you wouldn't be offended," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." Sarah laughed and nodded.

"Deal. I am twenty-two," she replied. Charlie raised his glass to her.

"Twenty-seven."

"Ooh, old man!" Charlie made a pained expression and swatted another sugar cube at her. This time, she did not catch it, and it bounced off her nose. She wrinkled the offended appendage and glared playfully at Charlie. She couldn't hold the appearance for long and soon burst into wild giggles.

As she recovered, Charlie watched her with a small smile on his face. He could already feel himself really liking this girl.

"Thank you, Charlie," Sarah said as she spooned some blue snow cone into her mouth. After lunch, Charlie had taken her to a nearby market bustling with activity, despite the chilly weather. Sarah loved the chance to interact with the people and the culture of this foreign country. Charlie held back a laugh as Sarah's mouth quickly turned the color of her snack.

"You're welcome, Sarah." It was about seven o'clock in the evening now, and the pair was reluctantly making their way back to the hotel. Neither one wanted to leave the other. However, like all good things that come to an end, the Ibis Nord Hotel came into view, and their date was nearing a close. Sarah had learned many things about Charlie- such as his six siblings, his native home of England, and his love of exotic animals. Sarah chucked her snow cone cup into a nearby trash can and turned to Charlie. She couldn't help but smile at him. She had had such a great night. Licking her blue lips, Sarah tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, feeling the flower she had slipped there. She pulled it out and twirled it between her fingers.

"I had a really nice time," she said. Charlie nodded and shuffled his feet in the dirt. Sarah bobbed her head once and turned to go, but Charlie caught her arm.

"Do you think I could see you again?" he asked. _Yes! _Sarah shouted inwardly. However, on the outside, she nodded and gave him a small smile.

"I'd really like that."

Charlie silently thanked whatever gods were looking out for him and nodded back. "Okay then."

"Okay," Sarah replied. Before anything got more awkward, she decided to retreat back to her room. She turned and made her way to the entrance. Charlie watched her go, and once her hand touched the door, he turned to leave.

"Charlie?" As his name suddenly was called out, he twisted just in time to have Sarah knock the wind out of him. Stumbling backward, he managed to gain his balance at the last second. Sarah, on impulse, had decided to give him a quick hug. It was a little more enthusiastic than she had planned. Charlie felt his heart warm as he felt her arms close around his waist. He easily wrapped his around her shoulders and squeezed her gently. Sarah looked up at him and grinned cheekily.

"See you later," she said, suddenly breaking away and dashing back to the hotel. Charlie, dumbfounded by the quick hug, watched as her form disappeared.

"Later," he said softly. Looking down at his shirt, he suddenly grinned as he realized that Sarah had tucked her flower into his pocket. With one last glance at the door, he turned and swiftly apparated into the dark night.

Up at her room, Sarah was giddy with excitement. Turning the key in the lock, she stumbled inside to see Alison and Thomas playing with Kirby.

"Well, hi!" she said cheerfully. Alison raised an eyebrow.

"You seem awfully excited," she commented. Sarah nodded with a wistful sigh and dropped onto her bed. Kirby gave a disgruntled squeak as she disrupted his comfortable position. She picked up the small animal and cuddled him close.

"I just had the most awesome date ever." Thomas rolled his eyes.

"What happened to staying in the room?" he asked. Sarah scoffed flicked him on the nose.

"I stayed in the room… for a little bit." At his face, she laughed and sat up quickly. "I got _bored_," she whined, "And besides, I already know how to use my tools. I want to get out in the field." At this comment, Thomas and Alison gave each other a small smirk. Sarah was instantly suspicious.

"What?" she asked. "_What?_" Alison laughed and ruffled her purple hair.

"Look's like you got your wish, kid. Tomorrow we're leaving for Transylvania," she replied. Sarah shot up and began jumping on the bed. Kirby held on for dear life.

"Finally!" Thomas and Alison laughed at her excitement.

"We're getting up early though- so get a good night's rest." Thomas said seriously. Sarah nodded ecstatically and dashed into the bathroom, depositing Kirby in Alison's lap on the way there. She slammed the door. Almost immediately, it opened again and she reappeared in her pajamas.

"I'll start now," she said seriously. Alison checked her watch.

"It's only seven o'clock," she replied incredulously. Sarah shrugged and took Kirby back, sliding into bed.

"It's sleep time now. Go away."

Chuckling, the pair left Sarah to what was surely going to be a restless night, and returned to their own rooms. As Kirby burrowed into the curve of her neck, Sarah could feel butterflies in her stomach. This was the moment she had been waiting for.

Hopefully she wouldn't screw it up.

* * *

There you go!

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Yuck. I am so sorry for the lack of updates. For some reason, I am having a difficult time articulating this particular story. I don't know why- I love the concept! Agh! Oh well- you guys are so supportive, I hope you can forgive me for the rather long wait.

And thank you for the reviews. I must say, I am rather surprised by the amount of attention this is gathering. Charlie stories don't usually gather much press. ;)

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Chapter 5 Publish Date: Sunday, July 01, 2007: 10:21pm**

* * *

"In your research paper, you mentioned the kingdom of Dacia. Is that to be your main focus on this trip?" Thomas asked Sarah as they tromped off of the bus. Sarah, her head fuzzy with excitement, could only manage a weak nod. As she gazed at the sights about her, she could not help but let out a squeal of exhilaration and engulf Thomas in a bear hug.

Chuckling slightly, he gently pushed her off and motioned back to the bus. "Better get your tools, kid. You're going to need them." Sarah nodded vigorously and dashed away. Adam Hart, fellow digger, sidled up next to Thomas and gave him a knowing look.

"Someone's excited, eh?" Thomas snorted and ran a hand over his weary face.

"Yeah. She acts like a child, but she _is_ really intelligent." He looked back at Sarah, who was busy spinning around in circles with her hands outstretched. "Professor Vance highly recommended her." Adam followed his gaze and let out a bark of laughter as Sarah spun her way right into Alison.

"Well, I hope Professor Vance is correct. Alison looks like she could murder her on the spot," he said. Thomas rolled his eyes and shouted back to the pair.

"Alright, ease up you two!"

Sarah grinned as Alison's grip on her slackened and she stuck out her tongue childishly. Alison, though irritated, couldn't help but smile at the younger woman. Sarah, seeing the smile, tucked her plum hair behind her ear and stuck out a hand.

"Truce?" she asked sweetly. Alison grinned and took the proffered hand. Sarah shook it emphatically and then bounced away to gather her bags. Thomas followed her and gave her a hand.

"Remember that you are in charge now, so you are calling the shots," he said. Sarah nearly dropped her bag of _very _expensive tools.

"I-in charge?" she stuttered. She frowned suddenly. Professor Vance hadn't mentioned _that. _Sarah figured her role would be small, but important. But in charge? Thomas laughed loudly at Sarah's terror stricken face and clapped a large hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, kid," he said soothingly, "If you make a really wrong decision, I'll be here to correct your mistake." He removed his hand and slung a pack onto his back. Sarah did likewise, her fright diminished somewhat, but she still had butterflies fluttering about in her stomach. Thomas left her side to join the others, leaving Sarah to gather the rest of her items and slam the storage doors closed. She quickly pulled out a map that had a red circle drawn on it.

It was an old map- something Sarah had had since she was first interested in archaeology. She pulled out an updated map and examined the two quickly. Good, not much had changed since then- a few roads here and there. Inhaling deeply, she folded the old map away and turned back to the others. As she walked towards them, she noticed they had gathered in a group. They suddenly looked so imposing. They were much older than her, and much wiser in the ways of the world and archaeology. And they volunteered to go on a dig with _her_? Sarah chuckled softly to herself and continued towards them.

She stopped just before them. Adam turned and nudged Thomas. Slowly, everyone was facing her, and Sarah could feel all eyes on her.

"So what's the first move, kid?" Adam asked. Sarah knew _exactly_ which way she wanted to go, but to screw with them a little, she closed her eyes and spun around in a slow circle, one arm out and pointing. Stopping in the direction she knew was correct, Sarah opened her eyes and blinked a few times.

"That way, soldier!" she exclaimed happily. With a quick salute, she began to march off with a slight swagger, leaving the rest to gape after her. Michael Sorenson, a tech specialist, turned to Thomas with an appalled look on his face.

"Did she just…?" he trailed off. Thomas laughed, shaking his head.

"She's just messing with you guys," he said, a rather amused expression on his face. "Come on, we have a long hike ahead of us."

Ahead, as Sarah marched on, she could hear her team start after her. Her heart began to flutter excitedly. She was really doing this- it wasn't a dream anymore.

If only Charlie could see her now.

* * *

Charlie awoke slowly in his dark flat. Rubbing the weariness from his eyes, Charlie sat up slowly and looked about his room. The rising sun was casting weak light onto the pale walls, making his room look bleaker than ever. Sighing heavily, he rolled out of bed and, clad only in his boxers, stumbled to his kitchen. Pulling open his refrigerator, he groaned.

_Typical, _he thought, _my flat has to live up to the name 'bachelor pad.'_

His fridge empty, and belly the same, Charlie shuffled into his bathroom to take a quick shower. As he let the warm water cascade down his back, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to last night's date. Sarah's smiling face and blue lips kept flashing through his brain. He chuckled softly at her antics. Finishing his shower, he stepped out and wrapped a towel around himself, his thoughts still on Sarah.

_"Sarah with an 'H'"_

Charlie couldn't understand what was wrong with him. As he pulled a t-shirt over his head, he wondered why he couldn't stop thinking of Sarah. She was just a girl, and it was just a date. But still… there was something about her. Pulling on the rest of his clothes, Charlie glanced at the clock. _Ten o'clock__. Not too late to ask her out to breakfast. _

Grinning widely now, Charlie snatched his wand and coat up, and, after one last glance around his flat, apparated to the Ibis Nord Hotel. Hiding his wand in his coat, Charlie entered the front door and began to make his way to the elevator. He was stopped, however, by a dark haired woman who worked for the hotel.

"Excuse me sir, but are you Charlie?" she asked with a thick accent. Charlie, having grown wary due to Voldemort and the war, tensed suddenly, but nodded. The woman smiled and motioned for him to follow her.

"A young woman described you this morning," she continued, "and said that if you were to come in, I should give you this." The woman, whose nametag read as 'Marta', handed Charlie a small white envelope from behind the welcome counter. It had his name scrawled across it in blue ink.

"Thank you," Charlie said, taking the envelope from her. Retreating to a bench across the lobby, Charlie sat down as he ripped the envelope open. Inside was a letter from Sarah.

_Hey Charlie!_

_If you are reading this, I am still in __Transylvania__. _(Charlie raised an eyebrow at this) _After you dropped me off from our date, I was surprised with the news of being able to get out in the field and do some digging with my archeological team! _

_We will be there for about one week, and then we will return to the hotel. I hope I can see you then. _

_Yours truly,_

_Sarah with an H __Adams_

Folding the letter, Charlie chuckled to himself and put the papers in his breast pocket. Standing, Charlie gave Marta a smile and left the hotel. So, breakfast with Sarah was not happening, but Charlie wasn't put out in the slightest.

_She wants to see me again._

* * *

Sarah huffed and puffed as she struggled to climb up a rather large rock. They had been hiking for several hours now, and the team was resting below at the base of the boulder. The team was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to reach their destination. Even Thomas, her biggest supporter, was beginning to lose faith in her. They had quarreled momentarily over the map, with Sarah _insisting _she knew where she was going, and Thomas insisting that, no, she didn't, because they weren't even following a path anymore.

Sarah hadn't given up the map, stating that _she_ was in charge, not him. Thomas had thrown up his arms in frustration. Muttering under his breath, he had turned away and stomped off to join the others.

_The big baby, _Sarah thought. _He'll get over it. _Straining ever muscle in her body, Sarah finally managed to pull herself to the tip top of the large boulder. Breathing heavily, she dropped her pack and began to rummage through it for her binoculars.

"Aha!" she said triumphantly as she pulled the battered pair out. Standing tall, Sarah peered into the device and slowly rotated, looking for _it_…

Below her, Alison complained loudly.

"Does she even know where we are?" she asked, rubbing her feet. "We're not even on the path anymore!" Thomas sighed and collapsed onto the cold ground beside her.

"I know, I told that to her earlier." Thomas glanced up at the young girl atop the boulder. "I dunno. She's on the hunt for something- that much is clear." The others nodded their agreement.

"Well, whatever it is," Michael said, "she better find it soon, before we have to set up camp."

Sarah suddenly dropped down beside him, landing hard first on her feet, before collapsing to her bum. Dizzily, she looked up at the boulder.

"I guess that was a _little _too high to jump from," she said shakily. Thomas rolled his eyes and flicked a pebble at her.

"So what is our next plan of action?" he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. Sarah perked up suddenly, and stood up.

"Oh, right! Well, we are much closer than I anticipated," she said excitedly. Alison raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

Sarah nodded vigorously, and picked up her rucksack. "We have about a ten minute walk in that direction," she said, pointing. Everyone followed her finger and groaned at the thick brush and trees that grew before them. "And then we will be there." Reluctantly her team stood and brushed their pants off. The lure of a resting point a mere ten minutes away was too strong for them to remain seated.

"So, Sarah," Adam said as he sidled up next to her, "Where exactly are you taking us?" Sarah gave him a look as she pushed aside a rather voluminous shrub.

"It is a surprise, remember?" She replied, bending back a tree branch. "I don't even know what we'll find." Adam stopped suddenly at her words.

"What?" THWACK! The branch Sarah had held back whapped him right across the forehead. Stumbling backwards and cursing a bit, Adam held his nose tightly. After regaining his composure, Adam hurried up after Sarah, his pack banging against his back.

"Whad do youd mean 'youd dond know whad you'll find?'" he asked, his pinched nose slurring his words slightly. Sarah looked back at him curiously for a moment, before shrugging and continuing on through the flora.

"I mean I am following a hunch," she said firmly, "Isn't what this trip is for?" Adam begrudgingly conceded the point and, releasing his tender nose, dropped the topic. A few minutes passed in silence, and the forest they were traveling through grew darker and darker as the foliage grew thicker and thicker. After having reached the ten minute mark, however, Thomas pushed past his teammates and made his way up to Sarah.

"Kid, we've been traveling for about ten minutes now," he said worriedly, "Are you sure we're headed in the right direction?" Suddenly, the pair stumbled into a small clearing, and light flooded their senses.

Sarah looked back at Thomas. "Yep." Sarah, though confident on the outside, was inwardly relieved. She had made wild leap in guessing that this clearing was here, but it had paid off.

Thomas gazed about him in awe, and the others did the same. They were standing in a rather small clearing, but the clearing wasn't what amazed them. It was what the clearing contained. Large stones, some broken apart, some whole, were embedded in the ground.

Sarah had led them to undiscovered ruins.

After recovering from their initial shock, the group began to hoot and holler with joy. Whether it was from such fabulous ruins or the fact that they had finally reached their destination, Sarah didn't know. Thomas bounded up beside her and gave her a great big bear hug.

"Sarah! This is more than we could've hoped for!" he exclaimed. Even moody Alison gave Sarah a thump on the back and a 'good job, kid'. Sarah smiled in return, albeit a bit shakily. She still couldn't believe her hunch had been correct- she was afraid she had been leading her team around on a wild goose chase. After the celebrations had died down, everyone at once turned to Sarah. Forgetting momentarily that she was in command, she gave them all odd looks.

"Oh, right," she said, suddenly remembering. Checking her watch, she continued, "We have about two more hours of daylight left, so let's set up camp before we start any investigating." Everyone cheered at the mention of 'camp', and gradually everyone's energy returned. Sarah found a rather flat and 'non-lumpy' stretch of ground, and began to set up her canvass tent. Alison, her "roommate", stepped over to help.

Within the hour, the camp was set, and Michael was busy cooking dinner over the collapsible stove. As they sat around the campfire, watching the sunset, Thomas suddenly called everyone's attention.

"I believe a toast is in order," he said lavishly. "To Sarah, our favorite student." The others repeated her name loudly and drank up from their tin cups. Sarah laughed, but shook her head.

"No, no," she said, gazing around her at the ruins.

"To Romania!"

* * *

Charlie returned to his flat several hours later, his arms full of grocery bags. As he set the paper bags on the counter, he could hear the familiar _whoosh _of floo powder in his fireplace. Turning, he was surprised to see Bill there. His brother had quite a distressed look on his scarred face. Instantly, Charlie set everything aside.

"Is everything okay?" he asked urgently. "Are mum and dad…?" But Bill waved his questions away.

"The family is fine, Charlie," he replied wearily. He collapsed onto the ragged armchair in the living room and rubbed a hand over his face. Charlie, while not as frantic as before, was still relatively worried. Crossing the kitchen into the living room, Charlie sat across from his brother in an equally torn up chair.

"Well, what's wrong?" he asked. Bill groaned and sat up straighter.

"Ah, Fleur and I had another stupid fight," he replied, rolling his eyes. Charlie had to suppress a smile. "The priest that was supposed to oversee our wedding got called away at the last minute."

Charlie suddenly remembered that his brother's wedding was next week. "So? Why not just use Dumbledore? I'm sure the old man would love to do it." But Bill shook his head and wagged a finger at Charlie.

"See, that's what I suggested. But Fleur got all huffy, saying that she wanted the priest to do it, not _'Dumbly-dorr'_." He threw his hands up in exasperation.

"So?" Charlie pressed. Bill looked at him.

"So the wedding's been postponed for another two months!" he exclaimed. Charlie laughed and stood.

"Ah, relax. Now you have more time to get your formal wedding robes." He walked over to the kitchen island and pulled out a six-pack of butter beer. "Want one?" he asked. Bill shrugged and pushed himself up, walking to the kitchen. He raised an eyebrow at all the groceries.

"What's with all the food? You getting tired of mum's cooking?" he asked sternly. Charlie grinned and shook his head.

"Nah, I have to practice making food this week," he replied, removing a carton of eggs from a bag. Bill looked puzzled.

"Why?" When Charlie kept quiet, realization suddenly dawned on Bill. "Blimey!" he hollered, "You're bringing a girl here!"

Charlie looked back at Bill and raised an eyebrow. Bill, chuckling still, sat down on one of the bar stools and uncapped a butter beer. "Ah, it's about time you got yourself a girlfriend," he teased.

"She's not my girlfriend," Charlie said firmly, a smile upon his lips, "We've had one date." Bill whistled low and took a swig from his beer.

"And yet you're already bringing her home. You move fast, mate," he said. "Are you going to impress her with some fancy wand action?" Though Charlie caught the innuendo, he shook his head at the more literal meaning.

"No- no magic." He took a beer for himself. "No magic," he repeated. Bill's eyes widened.

"You mean she's…?" he trailed off. Charlie nodded.

"Yeah, she's a muggle." Bill whistled again.

"I've got nothing against muggles," he said truthfully, "but when she asks to meet your family, we're going to be hard to explain to her." Charlie nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I know, mate, I know. And normally I wouldn't bother, but there's just something about her that's infectious." He took a drink of his beer. "I can't stop thinking about her."

Bill shrugged and downed the rest of his drink. "You can't help who you like," he said honestly. "I mean, look at me and Fleur. She loves my ugly mug, and I still can't figure out why." Charlie laughed and finished putting away his groceries.

"You need a place to bunk tonight?" he asked, now that the topic was back on Fleur. Bill nodded gratefully.

"Uh, I think it's a little too early to go home," he replied. "She might blow my head off."

"She'd be doing us all a favor," Charlie joked, ducking at the beer cap shot at him.

"So who is this mystery girl of yours?" Bill asked. Charlie frowned; he thought they had gotten away from that subject.

"Actually, she's the same girl I rescued from Raltred a few weeks back," he said, smiling at the memory. Bill frowned for a moment, and then laughed as he remembered.

"The bird with the pink hair you told us about?" he asked. Charlie nodded.

"Her hair's purple now, though. I met her in Romania," he replied. Bill nodded, before a puzzled look came over his face.

"What was she doing in Romania?" he asked.

"Doing some sort of archeological dig. She's a student in London."

Bill shook his head. "You sure do know how to pick 'em."

* * *

Well, that's it for tonight. By the way, while the Kingdom of Dacia was in fact real, the ruins I am writing about are _not_. I have made them up to fit with the story. Also, the terrain and country Sarah and co. have been crossing are purely fictional. Transylvania is real, the forest they are hiking through- not so much.

Creative license, people. ;)

Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, so, I am going to apologize (again, I know) for the long delay. But I have a reason! I started my freshman year at University, so I have had to adjust to the craziness of everything. **

**ANOTHER reason why I haven't been updating is because of Harry Potter Number Seven. No, I am not boycotting it or anything like that; I just wanted to read the ENTIRE series before starting on the final book. Well, since I am a lazy pig, I didn't even start the first book until a week before the seventh book came out. Needless to say, I had the seventh book in my possession for a long time before I could actually read it. I also had to stay away from the Harry Potter fanfiction domain, afraid that several authors would let something slip. **

But, I finally finished the seventh book, and I am (slightly) adjusted to college, so I am free at last to continue updating to my heart's content!

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Chapter 6 Publish Date: Sunday, January 06, 2008: 1:28pm**

* * *

Sarah moaned happily as she stretched like a cat, relishing the feeling as her joints popped quietly. The hard ground she had slept upon the night previously was cold and unforgiving, but it was worth it, Sarah decided as she surveyed the ruins before her. The morning air was cold, crisp and fresh, and smelled strongly of earth. Sarah breathed in deeply. _You don't get this in the city, _she thought happily. Sarah stretched a bit more before checking her watch. It was about seven o'clock in the morning, about time to get things started. She zipped up her heavy jacket and began walking past the other tents.

A rustling next to her caught her attention, and Sarah grinned as a disgruntled looking Adam stepped out of his tent, soon followed by Thomas. Slowly but surely, the other members of the team made their way out into the cool morning sunshine, and began bustling about camp. Alison could still be heard snoring inside the tent. Grinning, Sarah bounded back to the tent and bent over a stake holding the tent down. Thomas, across camp, saw what she was about to do, and groaned loudly. _Couldn't that girl leave people alone?!_

Giggling, Sarah lifted the post out of the ground, and watched as the tent collapsed upon the sleeping woman inside. Well, previously sleeping woman. With a small shriek, Alison clawed her way around the tent, frantically looking for the opening.

"Sarah!"

Sarah flinched slightly as Thomas' berating voice crossed the camp. She waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." Shuffling forward, Sarah grabbed the entrance to the tent and unzipped it. Alison popped her head out, her hair standing on end from static electricity. The tent pooled around her body as she glared at Sarah. Sarah nearly burst into laughter at this sight, but merely grinned and said,

"Time to get up, sleepy head!" Alison growled softly and lunged at Sarah, grabbing her around the wrist.

"OUCH!" Sarah squealed as the static electricity shocked her slightly with a loud pop. Shaking Alison off, Sarah danced away as if nothing had happened. "Aren't you excited? We get to start working today!"

Alison finished detangling her body from the twisted tent and stretched slowly. "It's just another dig, Sarah." Sarah stopped dancing around and glared at Alison, her hands on her hips.

"Well, excuse me, Miss I've-been-on-thousands-of-digs, but this is my first one ever!" She replied haughtily. Alison suddenly realized she had sounded condescending, and was about to apologize, when Sarah's mood suddenly from haughty to happy-go-lucky.

"Grids! Grids!" Sarah shrieked, making a few birds nearby flutter into the sky. "Time to grid the digging area!" Dashing to her pack, Sarah all but ripped the equipment from it and began furiously plotting out the digging area.

Adam leaned closer to Thomas. "Should we stop her?"

Thomas regarded the ecstatic Sarah for a long while before shaking his head. "Eh, she'll get it done for us. Then we won't have to do it later."

A short time layer, Sarah, heavily breathing, stepped back to view her work. She had networked the lines across a large portion of the digging area to form a grid. In between each "box" of the grid, there was plenty of room to dig. In fact, the grid was mainly used for documentation purposes. She walked up to a pillar standing tall, and delicately laid her hand against it. _I still can't believe I'm here…_

"SARAH!"

Sarah winced as her name was called harshly. _What I do this time? _She turned slowly and looked to Michael Sorenson, who was looking grumpily back at her. In his hands, he held Kirby. Sarah giggled and skipped towards him.

"There you are!" she cooed gently to her pet. "Mommy was getting worried!" she took Kirby from Michael's hands and cuddled him close. Michael rolled his eyes.

"Sarah, if you insist on taking that rat everywhere, _please _keep an eye on it," he said, exasperated. Sarah gave him an offended look.

"Kirby is not-!"

"Is not a rat- I get it." Michael interrupted, walking past her rudely. Sarah sniffed huffily and wandered towards Thomas, who was sitting around a fire with Alison and Adam. She squished in between Alison and Thomas, and the former quickly reached out to pet Kirby.

"So…" Sarah trailed off, trying to start a conversation. "What's next?" Thomas reached over to scratch Kirby as well. He shrugged and looked at Sarah.

"Next? We dig."

* * *

The week went by rather uneventfully for Charlie. A couple of dragons had come down with scale rot- a nasty business that Charlie was only all too happy to dump upon his interns. Bill had stayed over for two nights, but then was back to his fiancé, Fleur, who had decided to forgive him. Other than that, Charlie was living life as usual- with the exception of nearly burning his flat down.

"Aguamenti!" he cried, pointing his wand at the flaming frying pan atop his stove. A stream of water issued forth from his wand, and doused the flames. Seeing that he was no longer in danger, Charlie sighed and lowered his wand. He peered into the pan, and grimaced at the black twisted remains of the chicken breast he'd been trying to prepare.

"Evanseco," he murmured, and the nasty contents of the pan disappeared, "Last time I ever try that again," he mumbled to himself.

"Well, it was a good try," a voice said from behind him. Charlie jumped slightly, but knew the sound of his brother's voice.

"Bill, what are you doing back here?" Charlie asked, setting his wand on the kitchen counter.

"Enjoying the cooking show," Bill replied cheekily. He neatly dodged the spatula thrown at him, and casually leaned against the door frame of the kitchen. Charlie gave him a serious look.

"Ha, ha. Now what are you really doing here?" he asked. Bill rolled his eyes.

"I forgot my jacket when I left the other day. You see it lying around?"

Charlie shrugged and gestured towards the guest room. "I haven't been in there since you left. Go check it out." Bill did so, and Charlie took this time to clean the rest of the kitchen up.

"So I'm guessing the cooking hasn't been going very well," Bill said as he reentered the room. Charlie rolled his eyes.

"What was your first guess?" he asked sarcastically. Bill chuckled.

"Why don't you just ask Dobby to make something for you?" Bill suggested, sliding into his jacket. "He's a houself- he knows how to be discreet when the time calls for it." Charlie started to protest, but no words came from his mouth. _Why hadn't he thought of that before?_

Bill laughed at the expression upon his brother's face. He clapped him on the shoulder. "I can't help it that I'm smarter than you," he jested, removing his hand as soon as Charlie took a swipe at him.

"Yeah, yeah," Charlie said sarcastically, "Now get out of here before your fiancé decides she doesn't want you back!" Bill laughed and threw some Floo powder into the fireplace. Giving his brother a cheeky grin, he stepped through and with a shout, vanished.

Charlie sighed and crossed the room to collapse in an armchair. He grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and flipped the television on. It had been a birthday gift from his father. Normally, Charlie wouldn't have given the muggle item the slightest bit of interest, but after his father set it up for him, Charlie found it to be quite useful sometimes. He flipped through the channels lazily and finally settled on a news station. The report was in Romanian- everything was- but Charlie was pretty fluent.

He settled back in his chair, ready to relax a bit, but bolted back up almost immediately. _Sarah!? _Before him, in the television, was Sarah being interviewed by a reporter. He turned up the volume.

"So, what is going on exactly?" the reporter asked in a heavy Romanian accent. Sarah smiled and enthusiastically answered.

"Well, right now a team of archaeologists are currently trying to fully uncover the ruins found in this clearing…" Sarah said to the reporter. Charlie watched her with a smile on his face. She looked beautiful. Her hair was thrown into a messy ponytail, and she had a smudge of dirt on her cheek, but she was positively _glowing. _The camera's panned the digging site and showed numerous people in the clearing.

"Now, you are a student still, correct?" the reported asked as Sarah finished. Sarah nodded, and Charlie noticed her smile had diminished somewhat.

"Yes. I led the expedition after winning the project through an essay competition," she said, "There were originally only a few people on the project, but after such a large finding, more and more specialists were called in."

"And you are supposedly retuning for Bucharest later on today, is that correct?"

At this, Sarah's glowing demeanor had completely vanished, and she looked slightly angry.

"Yes," she replied through gritted teeth, "Due to my inexperience, I was kept on site for only a week, and I am being sent back to Bucharest for research purposes." She thanked the reporter abruptly and stalked of camera. Charlie winced and turned the volume down.

_Poor Sarah. She was so excited about this expedition, and it gets torn from her…_ He turned the television off and stood. The interview said she was returning to Bucharest later today… but that interview was recycled from the morning news. Charlie got excited. Maybe she was already back? He shrugged and headed for the shower to start getting ready.

It was worth a try.

* * *

Sarah positively fumed as she unpacked her gear in her small hotel room. _How could they do this to her? _She slammed her tools into her bedside draw and closed it roughly.

"I mean, I discovered the ruins!" she burst out abruptly, to no one in general. Kirby, sensing his master's mood, chirped and crossed the bed towards her. Sarah sighed and scooped her beloved pet up. "I worked so hard to get here," she told the chinchilla, cuddling him close, "All for nothing." Kirby snuggled in closer to her robe. The moment she had returned, Sarah had hopped into the shower and began furiously scrubbing away the dirt and grime. Now, a half an hour later, she was still only clad in her fuzzy pink bathrobe.

A knock suddenly came from the door, and Sarah, depositing Kirby back onto the bed, shuffled over to open the door.

"Can I help…you?" she asked, trailing off as she saw Charlie before here. She blushed suddenly as she realized what she was wearing.

Charlie saw the blush and smiled faintly. "Did I come at a bad time?" he asked. Sarah shook her head and opened the door wider, motioning for him to come in.

"Uh, just let me get dressed real quick," she said grabbing some clothes from the dresser and rushing into the bathroom.

"How long have you been back?" Charlie asked loudly, so she could hear. He went to sit on the bed, but a loud chirp made him jump up. He'd almost sat on Sarah's pet.

"Oh, not long," Sarah said through the door as she changed, "How did you know I was coming back today?"

Charlie picked up the animal and stroked it gently. "I watched the news," he replied. He heard Sarah scoff through the door.

"I hated that interview," she said, opening the door finally, clad in jeans and a sweater. Sarah smiled at Charlie. "So, what brings you here?"

Charlie deposited Kirby into Sarah's arms and picked up her coat and purse for her. "Ah, well, after seeing your interview, I figured you'd want some company." Sarah smiled wider and bounced over to Charlie. She set Kirby down and slid into a pair of red ballet flats.

"Are we going somewhere?" she asked excitedly. Charlie helped her shrug into her jacket.

"I figured I'd make you dinner," he replied, handing her purse to her. Sarah turned around to face him and gave him an impressed look.

"You cook?" she asked as they left the room. Charlie thought about Dobby, who was currently making dinner as they spoke. He winced.

"Kind of," he replied, looking down at her with a grin. She giggled and skipped towards the elevators. Charlie followed at a more sedate pace.

"Well, 'kind of' is okay in my book," she said as she punched the call button. "I can't cook to save my life!" Charlie raised an eyebrow at the expression.

"Really?"

Sarah nodded. "One time, I tried to make mac and cheese," she began, stepping into the elevator once it arrived, "and I didn't even get to the part where you add the noodles to the boiling water." Charlie listened, interested.

"What happened?"

Sarah scoffed again. "APPARENTLY, when boiling water, you can't just turn the burner on high. It burns the bottom of the pan up." She looked up at Charlie, giggling wildly. "I set the fire alarm off trying to _boil water_!"

Charlie laughed with her, and when they finally reached the lobby, he held his arm out to her, which she took immediately.

"And another time, I tried to make chicken…." He listened to her chat amicably, grinning at the way she laughed at herself. He hailed a taxi and opened the door for her. She slid in first, and he followed. The taxi drive was about half an hour, so it was well after six o'clock when they arrived at his flat.

"So this is home?" Sarah asked as they climbed the steps. Charlie nodded and unlocked the front door.

"Uh, yeah, home sweet home!" he said loudly. Sarah gave him an odd look, but Charlie didn't care. He hoped Dobby had heard him and had vanished. He went to the kitchen immediately, sighing in relief as he saw a dish of pasta on the counter, surrounded by various side dishes. They were all steaming hot, a testament to Dobby's presence.

Sarah closed the door behind her looking around in curiosity. His home was definitely a bachelor's pad, she decided. There was minimal furniture, and everything had a masculine air about it, but it was clean and well put together. She slipped out of her jacket and hung it on the coat rack standing in the corner of the entryway. She explored the front room a little bit- not wanting to be nosy, but she _was _curious.

"Sarah?" Charlie's voice called from the kitchen. Sarah smiled and skipped towards the kitchen. She stopped in the doorway at the sight before her. Charlie's small, two person kitchen table was laden with food, and the smell was absolutely divine. Charlie leaned against the kitchen sink, watching her. She sighed happily.

"Charlie, this is exactly what I needed after today," she said gratefully, "Thank you." They sat down at the table, and Charlie poured them each a glass of wine. They spoke lightly as they ate, about random things, as well as about Sarah's short lived expedition.

"So they just kicked you off the team?" Charlie asked, taking a bite of his pasta. Sarah shook her head.

"Technically, no. I'm the researcher now," she replied, a look of disgust crossing her face. "But, what can I do? I'm only a student. I'll graduate this year, and then I'll be able to do what I want." Charlie nodded in response.

Sarah helped him clear the table after they finished eating, putting the leftovers in the refrigerator. Her eyes lit up as she saw what was inside.

"Ooh! Is this for dessert?" she asked. Charlie, having no idea what she was talking about, moved behind her and peered over her shoulder. Before them was a lovely chocolate cake, decorated simply. Charlie reminded himself to thank Dobby profusely later. Maybe he'd buy him some socks.

"Looks like it," he responded. Sarah sat at the island counter in the middle of the kitchen, while Charlie stood across it, holding his plate of cake.

"Thank you, again, Charlie." Sarah said as she finished, "You are a wonderful cook."

"Yeah…" Charlie trailed off, feeling slightly guilty. He looked up from his own plate, and smiled slightly at the smudge of chocolate on Sarah's lips. He grabbed a napkin and leaned across the island. Sarah gave him a quizzical look, but blushed as he began dabbing at her lip with a napkin.

"Thanks," she said softly as Charlie finished. Charlie nodded, but didn't move away. He looked into her eyes and cautiously moved his face closer to hers. Sarah closed her eyes as he kissed her softly, her heart pounding so hard she swore he could hear it. Their position was odd, so she stood up from her bar stool and leaned closer. Charlie cupped her face with his rough hands and kissed her more fervently, tasting red wine on her lips in addition to the chocolate. They parted slowly and reluctantly, but Charlie still held onto Sarah. He smiled as a blush dusted her cheeks.

"I'm sorry you had a bad day," he murmured with a smile, brushing the pad of his thumb across the blush on her cheeks. Sarah sighed happily.

"This makes up for it," she teased. Charlie laughed and kissed her softly once more, before letting her go and putting his dish in the sink. Sarah watched him as she drank some more wine. She didn't know what quite to make of the man before her. They'd only had two dates, and already she felt somewhat attached to him. She felt her heart sink as she remembered she was leaving for London tomorrow. _Better tell him now…_

**"**Charlie," she began hesitantly, "I'm leaving for London, tomorrow." Charlie paused in his clean up. He looked up at her.

"And?" he asked. Sarah gave him an odd look.

"And I'm probably not coming back for a long time. I don't know what _we_ are," she said, referring to their relationship, "But I like it." She blushed and looked into her glass of wine. Charlie said nothing; instead he came around the island to stand next to her.

"I like it too," he replied seriously, "And I'd like to continue seeing you." Sarah looked up at him, smiling happily. "Also, I'm in London every weekend," he said brightly. Sarah gave him a surprised look.

"Are you really?" she asked. Charlie nodded. Okay, so he wasn't really, but it wasn't that hard to apparate there every weekend, now was it?

Sarah felt her heart lighten tremendously. They could really give their relationship a try! She bit her lip and, gathering her courage, leaned in to kiss Charlie. Charlie accepted it eagerly, putting his large hands on her waist to pull her closer. Sarah felt herself tremble as she felt his hands on her as they kissed. No man had ever made her feel this way. As they separated, Sarah embraced Charlie tightly, leaning her head against his chest.

"Maybe being sent home early wasn't such a bad thing," she mused. Charlie laughed and kissed the top of her head.

"Well, I certainly benefited from it."

* * *

Please review.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you for the reviews! I am glad this fic is being received so well.

_To Misdilla: Thank you so much for the review. In response to your question about Charlie's accent, I simply forgot to address that whole issue. Of course, Sarah is living in London, so maybe she's used to British accents by now? I don't know; simple author mistake! _

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

* * *

Sarah sighed as her plane touched down on London soil. Well, London tarmac, anyway. Her date with Charlie had finished shortly after that sweet last kiss, and he called a cab for her. He had offered to take her back to the Ibis Nord Hotel, but she had declined. She had really wanted to spend the last few moments of the night with Romania alone. She had gazed solemnly out the window the entire trip, regretting the little time she had devoted to simply exploring the city.

She pushed herself out of the tiny coach class seat and began pulling her bags out of the overhead bins. Sarah frowned as she was jostled roughly by a few passengers overly eager to get off the plane. Finally having gathered all of her bags, she stumbled down the aisle way and out the door. She dodged past family reunions and sat down away from the action on an uncomfortable plastic seat. Sarah whipped out her cell phone and fingered the scrap of paper in her hand that had Charlie's phone number written on it. Quickly dialing, she listened to the rings…. No answer.

"Um, hey Charlie," Sarah said brightly, shifting slightly in her seat, "I just wanted to let you know I had reached London safely… so, yeah. I'll see you when I see you." She hung up and slid the phone into her pocket, along with the phone number. She blushed as she remembered their night together. Man, he sure was a good kisser…

"Welcome back, Miss Adams," a sober voice behind her said softly. Sarah smiled gently and twisted in her seat.

"Good to see you, Professor Vance," she replied, tucking a piece of her purple hair behind her ear. Emilio Vance closed the space between them and picked up one of her bags.

"You sound delighted to be back," he said dryly. Sarah snorted and stood, gathering her bags as she went.

"Well, given the circumstances," she said, "You can't really blame me." They made a beeline for the exit, and Sarah soon found herself at Emilio's car. "Thanks again for picking me up, Professor," she mentioned gratefully. Emilio waved his hand.

"It's nothing," he answered, sliding into the driver's seat, "It's the least I could do." Sarah wrinkled her nose as he started the car.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Emilio sighed and put the car in gear.

"Sarah, I was the one who started this whole program," he looked at her seriously, "I feel very guilty that you had to come home so early." He drove out of the airport and onto the nearby highway.

"I fought very hard to keep you there," he said after a few moments of silence. Sarah looked at him. "The board overruled me."

"Well, thank you for trying," she said, mustering a smile. "I'm sure you tried your best."

"Now, enough of this," Emilio said brightly, trying to lighten the mood, "Tell me about the time you _did_ spend in Romania!"

Sarah broke into a true smile and proceeded to tell him, quite ecstatically, about her time in the country. She did, however, leave out Charlie. This lasted most of the car ride, and soon they were pulling up to Sarah's apartment on Bette Lane.

She let herself in as Emilio drove off, relishing the feeling of being home. She opened her pack and Kirby poked his head out, nibbling on a snack he had found. Sarah knelt and let him out, watching as he made a beeline for his little nest she had once made for him. Stretching like a cat, she padded across her living room, unlocked the sliding door, and pulled it open. Stepping onto her small patio, Sarah breathed in the London air and smiled softly to herself. It _was _nice to be home.

A gust of wind suddenly whipped through her tiny yard, and she shivered slightly. The bushes in the corner of her yard was shaking from the wind, and for some reason, Sarah felt an uneasy feeling of dread pass through her. A sudden sharp pain flashed through her chest and the color red flickered through her mind. Disoriented, Sarah shook her head and both the pain and color disappeared. Slightly confused, she collapsed into a rickety folding chair.

"The jet lag must be really getting to me," she mumbled to herself, putting a hand to her forehead. She sat quietly, mulling over the events of the past few days. And yet, as the sun began its haggard descent from the sky, Sarah could not shake the feeling of déjà vu that had so quickly overcome her.

* * *

"Yes mom…I know. You- okay… No!" Sarah sighed and cradled the corded phone in the crook of her shoulder. It was Saturday morning, two days after her return from Romania, and she had just gotten a very frantic call from her mother. _Apparently_, she'd had a problem with Sarah neglecting to tell her about the whole Romania trip.

"I KNOW I should have called you…" Sarah repeated for the seventh time, thoroughly exasperated at this point, "Yeah…I was just so excited- what? Mom, you can't ground me!" Sarah rolled her eyes and switched the phone to her other shoulder. "Why? Well, for one, I'm twenty-two years old, and I'm in _London_."

Sarah's cell phone rang suddenly. Sighing, Sarah hopped off the counter she was sitting on, and, wrenching on the endless cord of her landline, shuffled across the kitchen. Mumbling absently to her mother's everlasting rant, Sarah dug through her bag sitting on the counter. After a few moments of pushing through the junk in her purse, her fingers wrapped around the smooth surface of her phone, and with a triumphant smile, she yanked it out of her handbag.

_Veronica_, the tiny screen flashed up at her.

"Mom, I gotta take another phone call, I'll have to talk to you later." Sarah said. "Yes, I _promise_ I will call you later. Bye." Quickly hanging up, she just as quickly answered her ringing cell.

"What's up Ronnie?" she asked. "Lunch? Sure, why not…. See you then!"

Veronica Barrington swirled her straw in her soda impatiently. It was an oddly warm day, and she sat outside a trendy little café, waiting for Sarah Adams to show up. Veronica had met Sarah in their ancient arts class, and had instantly clicked with the girl. They did make an odd pair, however. Veronica Barrington was obviously from old money, and dressed as such, from pearls to her conservative character, while Sarah Adams was from more modest means and had a highly… peculiar personality. But, nevertheless, Veronica had found a kindred spirit within Sarah, and the two had become fast friends.

Veronica heard Sarah before she actually saw her.

"Hey, sorry I'm late! I had to- OH! I am _so _sorry ma'am; I totally didn't see you there!" Veronica twisted in her seat and pushed her designer sunglasses up her head to get a better look at the spectacle before her. Sarah had apparently crashed into a woman carrying several shopping bags, and the merchandise had gone everywhere. Sarah was knelt on the ground, gathering the miscellaneous items together. Veronica bit back a smile as Sarah held up a bath towel.

"Oh _wow_, where'd you get this? I've been looking for some new towels and haven't found any I liked," she said exuberantly. The woman huffed and snatched the towel from Sarah before stalking off without another word. Veronica giggled at this, and Sarah looked up to see her friend. She stood suddenly and bounded towards Veronica, pulling out a metal chair to sit in.

"So!" Sarah said brightly. "How've you been?" Veronica rolled her eyes.

"How have_ I_ been?" she asked incredulously. "You just got back from Romania! How have _you _been?"

"Oh, it was absolutely amazing!" Sarah exclaimed, falling back into her chair. "The ruins were fabulous; as was the culture of Romania…" she trailed of. "I only wish I could have stayed for the entire dig."

Veronica huffed. "I say you should have yelled at them all for making you leave like that," she replied, examining her manicured nails, "If it was me, they would've had to drag me out of Romania kicking and screaming." Sarah giggled at the mental image, picked up the menu in front of her and instantly blanched.

"Geeze, Ronnie!" she exclaimed, "I can't afford this and you know it!"

Veronica wrinkled her nose in distaste at the nickname, but gave her friend a reassuring smile. "Don't worry; it's on me today. Consider it a welcome back gift!"

Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"Is _the_ Veronica Barrington in a gift giving mood?" Sarah asked dryly. "I expect a pig with little white wings to fly by at any moment."

Veronica rolled her eyes and whapped her friend lightly on the head with her menu. "Enough. I really do mean it as a gift."

Sarah sighed. "I know that. I'm just teasing!" She settled into her chair and reopened her menu, her stomach growling slightly at the sound of some of the dishes. Veronica leaned back in her chair and gazed intently at her friend. Something was different about Sarah, but Veronica couldn't exactly put her finger on it. Sarah's eyes had always been bright and cheerful- and they were now, but there was something else lurking in those brown depths. Veronica sucked on her straw harder, draining the last of the soda from the cup as she contemplated her friend.

She choked suddenly as she recognized the look.

"Sarah Beth Adams!" she shrieked. Sarah looked up and her cheeks colored as several other people seated around her turned in surprise. "You met a man!"

Sarah blanched and leaned closer to Veronica. "Ronnie! Shut up! And how do you know?" Veronica smiled knowingly and lowered the tone of her voice.

"I recognize that look in your eyes," she replied, mirth shining in her own. "Besides, I know everything." Veronica settled back in her chair and ran a perfectly manicured hand through her hair.

"Spill."

Sarah's face broke into a grin and she laughed softly. "I should have known better than to try and keep anything from you, Miss Priss," she said. At Veronica's unrelenting stare, Sarah gave in.

"_Fine._ I met him in Romania, but he's originally from London- and he's here every weekend." She stopped as a waiter approached. The two women ordered their food quickly, and then Sarah returned to her report. "His name is Charlie, and he-!"

"Charlie what?" Veronica interrupted. Sarah started to reply than stopped.

"I actually don't know," she mused, "I never asked." Veronica sighed.

"_Details _girl, details. How are you ever going to know if he's interested in you if you don't know anything about him?" she said. "Have I taught you nothing?"

Sarah grinned cheekily. "Oh, he's interested alright." At Veronica's perfectly girly gasp, Sarah related the events of their two dates, especially the second one. By the end of her story, their food had arrived, and Sarah happily tucked in to her lunch of chicken breast and broccoli.

"Wow. This guy sounds like quite a catch," Veronica commented over her own salad. Sarah sighed dreamily and nodded in agreement. She was startled from her day dream, however, when her cell suddenly rang. Glancing at the caller I.D, she grinned and flashed the phone at Veronica.

"It's him now." She made to slide the phone back in her purse, but Veronica's sudden outcry made Sarah drop the phone.

"What are you doing?!" Veronica yelped, "Answer it!"

"I'm having lunch with you," Sarah protested, "It wouldn't be polite…" she trailed off at Veronica's glare. "Fine, fine," she muttered. Picking the phone up off the cement, she stood up and walked a few feet away from the outdoor area for some privacy. Taking a deep breath, Sarah pressed 'talk' and held the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"SARAH? CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

Sarah cursed loudly and nearly dropped the phone again as her ears rang. Fumbling with the phone for a moment, she gathered her wits.

"Charlie, stop shouting I can hear you just fine!" she said.

"Oh…sorry. I was in a…"

"A bad reception area?" Sarah supplied.

"Yeah, something like that. Anyway, I was wondering what…"

Veronica watched as her friend scuffed her feet and blushed. _Man, that girl's got it baaaad! _She patiently ate her food while keeping an eye on Sarah, laughing quietly as the young girl blushed and stammered through a conversation. _She must really like this guy if she can barely carry on a conversation over the phone! _

"So, remember when I told you I was in London every weekend?" Charlie said. Sarah nodded, then remembering she was on the phone, replied,

"Yeah… are you here now?"

"Yep, and I was wondering if you wanted to get together tonight and go to the theater?" Charlie asked, hoping she was available. Sarah felt her heart leap. _Of course I'm available!_

"Definitely! Yeah, I would love to! When and where do you want to meet?"

As the details of the date were hammered out, Sarah looked back at Veronica. Her friend winked at her, and laughed at Sarah's blush. Sarah rolled her eyes and focused back on Charlie.

"Sounds great Charlie…yeah, you too! Bye." Sarah hung up and sighed contentedly before skipping back to the table where Veronica sat.

"Sooo…?" Veronica asked playfully. "You have another date planned?" Sarah smiled widely and sucked down some more iced tea.

"Yep! He's going to take me to a movie!" she replied. Veronica rolled her eyes.

"A movie, how original," she said, obviously unimpressed. Sarah scoffed.

"He sounded really excited about it- and I love movies!" She laughed, trying her best to sound indignant. Veronica raised her eyebrows.

"Hopefully it will be a horror so you can cozy up to him at the scary parts!" Veronica teased, laughing as Sarah hit her lightly on the arm.

"He didn't say what we were seeing." Sarah replied. "We must be going somewhere after though, because he said to dress nicely." At this, Veronica sat up straighter and gasped in delight.

"Omigod! You so have to let me take you dress shopping!" she squealed. Sarah sputtered.

"What? No, I don't need a new dress, I-!"

"Yes you do need a new outfit!" Veronica interrupted, "C'mon, it will be my welcome home gift!"

Sarah gestured to the meal before them. "I thought this was your welcome home gift?" Veronica waved her comment aside.

"Ah, shopping is so much better than this. It will be my second welcome home gift!" When Sarah still looked unsure, Veronica lowered her voice and became serious.

"Sarah, you looked so happy talking on the phone with him just a few minutes ago. What are you really like when you're with him? I mean, this guy could be the one!"

Sarah shook her heat. "Ronnie, this will only be our third date. Love doesn't happen like that!" Veronica smiled softly.

"Haven't you ever heard of love at first sight? Please let me buy you a dress for tonight?" Veronica pleaded. She stuck out her lower lip and pouted as best she could. Sarah laughed and threw her hands up in surrender.

"Sure! Why not?" she said. Veronica smiled in victory and settled back in her chair, content to finish her meal.

* * *

Sarah let out a sigh of relief as she entered her home, her hands full of shopping bags. Dumping them on her bed, Sarah made her way to her living room and turned her laptop on. She glanced at the clock. _It's only five o'clock. Charlie won't be here until eight-thirty. I have plenty of time to get ready. _Settling down at her computer, Sarah decided to continue her write up of her experience in Romania. It was due on Monday, and she really wanted to impress Professor Vance. Kirby chirped from his place on the couch. She threw him a smile over her shoulder.

"Professor Vance said that if this paper is good enough, it could get published in _Archeology Today!_" Sarah said to Kirby excitedly. "Imagine being published in an archeology science journal!" Sarah sighed happily and got down to work. So entranced with her writing, Sarah didn't notice the clock slowly creeping closer and closer to eight-thirty.

Charlie apparated just outside Sarah's apartment. He checked his watch; good, he was a few minutes early. Smiling widely, Charlie straightened his dress shirt and walked up to Sarah's door. He had planned something special for their date tonight. _I hope she enjoys it, _he thought to himself. He rang the doorbell, and stepped back in surprise when he heard a loud shout from within. There were some pounding footsteps, and suddenly the door opened. A flushed Sarah stood before him, clad in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Charlie felt confused.

"Are you not able to go tonight?" he asked slowly. Sarah beckoned for him to enter.

"I am so sorry Charlie!" she apologized as he followed her into her apartment. "I was working on my essay and I got distracted and…" she fell silent at his amused stare. "I'm sorry."

Charlie grinned and pulled Sarah into a hug. "Don't worry about it. We can go another time." At this, Sarah pulled back.

"No, no! I can get ready in like, five minutes! Just wait here," she said, gesturing around herself. Before he could answer, Sarah had darted down the hallway into her room, closing the door behind her. Charlie smiled softly and gazed around the living room.

"Just like I remember," he murmured to himself. While the living room had been filled with boxes and random items when he had visited before to take care of Raltred, the room was now neatly furnished and decorated. It was also slightly messy, which he liked. It gave it a more "lived-in" look, he decided. He sat down on her couch, and waited patiently. As soon as he sat down, however, Kirby immediately made his way over and plopped himself down in Charlie's lap.

"Hello there!" he said softly, stroking the chinchilla's soft fur. "So you like me, do you?" The chinchilla answered with a contented chirp. Charlie smiled. "I like you too- and your mommy."

Sarah ran frantically around her room, trying desperately to get dressed. She mentally cursed herself for losing track of time. She quickly threw on the dress Veronica had bought for her and slid her feet in beautiful but dangerous heels. Examining herself in the mirror, she put her hair into a loose bun a little above the nape of her neck. She let a few purple tendrils curl about her face, but otherwise it was all pulled back loosely. She swiped on a little bit of lipstick, sprayed a dab of perfume, and- after deciding that would have to be it, dashed out of her room to Charlie.

"I'm ready! Sorry about that!" she apologized. Charlie, still occupied with Kirby, started to reply, but found he couldn't when he looked up.

Sarah was, in his opinion, stunning. She was dressed in a modest, yet still beautiful knee length dress. It was both light blue and periwinkle, with a sparkling belt across the waist, and lightly jeweled collar. Her purple hair was pulled back from her face in a slightly messy, yet sexy style. Charlie stood slowly, and quickly drew his eyes to her face- those shoes got his heart pumping.

Sarah felt herself blush under his scrutiny, and hoped she hadn't smeared any lipstick on her cheek.

"You look beautiful," Charlie murmured, before walking towards her and capturing her lips in a chaste kiss. Sarah felt her temperature rise and cleared her throat as their lips parted.

"Are you ready?" she asked, desperately hoping her face wasn't red. Charlie nodded and they left her apartment. They made their way onto the main road, and hailed a taxi from there. Charlie slid in after Sarah, and gently took her hand.

The ride to the theater was short and comfortably silent. However, Sarah grew concerned as they pulled up to an extremely old looking theater. As they exited the cab, she examined the boarded up windows and empty ticket booth.

"Uh, Charlie…" she said, "I hate to break it to you, but this place looks closed."

"I know that." Charlie said, his breath tickling the nape of her neck. "Just trust me." Sarah watched as he pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the front door. At her confused look, Charlie just smiled and beckoned for her to follow him.

Sarah took a deep breath and followed him into the dark theater. The door shut loudly behind her, and cut off any light. Charlie seemed to know where he was going, however, and guided her carefully through the darkness. Sarah could feel her heart beating so hard she was sure he could hear it. Suddenly, their footsteps were no longer muted by carpet, but loud against wood. Her heels clicked gently against the floor, matching the tattoo of her heart.

Charlie suddenly stopped. "Wait right here," he said, and before Sarah could answer, walked away. He smiled to himself as he pulled out his wand and got to work.

Sarah felt completely alone as she stood there, hearing only her breathing. Suddenly, the lights flickered to life, and she found herself standing upon a stage in a grand theater. It took her breath away. Revolving slowly on the spot, Sarah took in the majestic vaulted ceilings and sparkling chandelier. She lowered her gaze to see Charlie leaning against the side of the stage, watching her with a soft smile.

"I… I thought we were seeing a movie?" she said, her voice echoing in the theater. Charlie smiled and walked towards her.

"Actually, I had planned on taking you dancing," he said as he neared her, "But I realized I didn't want to share you with anyone else in a club."

Sarah suddenly realized there was soft music playing from somewhere in the theater. It was beautiful, with a piano and violin being the only instrument. She focused back on Charlie and saw that he was holding his hand out to her. Sarah felt light hearted as she took his hand and he drew her close, placing on hand on her waist, keeping the other tightly encased within his. Charlie led her around the stage slowly, spinning her around delicately.

Time seemed to stall for the both of them. Charlie watched Sarah dance in the spotlight with him, the soft glow of the chandelier illuminating her features gently. He felt his heart race each time his hand left her waist, and it calmed each time she was brought closer to him. He found himself dancing slower and slower, finally stopping altogether.

Sarah watched as Charlie smiled at her tenderly, and felt something she couldn't place. He stopped the dancing slowly, though the music still played in the background. She was pressed closely against him, and felt safe and content. Sarah looked up at him, and felt her heart leap as he brushed his lips against her forehead. That such an innocent tough elicited such a reaction surprised her. She had been touched far more intimately before, and yet a kiss on the forehead was making her heart stop.

Charlie drew her closer, and kissed her nose, and then finally her lips. He felt his heart pound as Sarah responded. He let go of her hand and cupped her cheek gently, while sliding his other hand up to the small of her back. Sarah slid her arms to grasp his back, pulling him closer to her. Sarah felt so confused and yet so exhilarated at the same time. She heard Veronica's voice suddenly echo within her head.

_"This guy could be the one… Haven't you heard of love at first sight?" _

Sarah thought that she didn't believe in love at first sight. How could you love someone you didn't know? But the way Charlie was making her feel… Sarah suddenly felt so unsure. Little did she know, similar thoughts were racing throughout Charlie's own mind.

_What am I doing? _He asked himself. _This is only our third date… _He broke the kiss gently and rested his forehead against Sarah's. Charlie didn't know what was wrong with him. The emotion that was coursing through him was new, and it felt dangerous. Things like this- _feelings_ like this aren't supposed to happen so soon… were they?

_Am I… Am I in love? _He thought.

Sarah sighed deeply. _Uh-oh. Am I in love? _

At this thought, she broke away suddenly. Charlie, surprised, took a step back. "Is everything okay?" he asked cautiously. Sarah shook her head.

"I think… I've just realized something," she said slowly. "And I don't know if it's a good thing."

Charlie felt his heart stop. _Did he cross the line somewhere? _"Sarah…" he stepped towards her.

"Charlie!" Sarah said suddenly. "Charlie, when you- when you touch me like that, and when you kiss me like that, I- I can't breath. I get so confused and- and…" she was beside herself at this point. Her emotions had suddenly run away from her, and it was scaring her. At Charlie's uncomprehending gaze, Sarah took a deep breath in an effort to calm herself.

"Charlie, my heart is telling me I am in love with you, but my mind is telling me that is impossible."

"Why, Sarah? Why is that impossible?" Charlie said abruptly. As Sarah been speaking, understanding had begun to dawn on Charlie, as he realized she was feeling the same thing as him. Joy suddenly shot through him, and he realized he didn't care if they had known each other for two weeks or two years.

"You can't fall in love with somebody over the course of two weeks!" Sarah exclaimed. "It's impossible!" She threw her hands up. "Jesus Christ, I don't even know your last name!"

Charlie closed the gap between the two of them and crushed his lips to hers. Sarah, shocked, clutched at him for dear life. Charlie broke the kiss, breathing raggedly.

"My last name is Weasley." He kissed her swiftly and passionately once more. "And I think I am in love with you too, Sarah Adams."

* * *

For the music they were dancing too, look up the band "Secret Garden". I had the song "Heartstrings" in mind while I wrote this chapter. It is one of my favorites!

I have finally overcome the writer's block from hell, so hopefully I should have another chapter written and posted by next week. Thanksgiving break is this coming week, so that should give me some time to write.

As always, thank you for reading, and I always appreciate your reviews!

-Wynter


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everyone! So...I am taking this in a completely different direction than I planned. Hopefully it turns out well! ;) If not, I can always start over. Thanks for the reviews, as always!

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Chapter 8 Publish Date: **Sunday January 18, 2009, 1:14 am

Also, wishing everyone happy holidays and a wonderful new year!

* * *

Sarah breathed in deeply. She felt her senses awaken sluggishly, and became aware of light streaming across her closed eyelids. Opening her eyes, Sarah gazed about the small room in slight confusion. Where was she? Sarah sat up in the bed, the blankets pooling about her waist. It was then that she realized she was nude. A small movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention. Charlie was sprawled across the bed next to her, just as naked as she was.

The panic that had begun to rise in her suddenly dulled. Sarah smiled as the soft sunlight filtered through the bedroom window and across Charlie. His red hair glowed warmly in the sunbeams. Shaking herself slightly, Sarah grimaced as she realized her mouth was thick with the taste of alcohol. _What exactly happened last night?_

As she gazed about the unfamiliar room, noting her dress and other garments that were flung about, she struggled to remember what had occurred in the hours previous. Sifting through the haze of a hangover, Sarah grasped on the remnants of a memory drifting through her mind…

_SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER…_

_"You can't fall in love with somebody over the course of two weeks!" Sarah exclaimed. "It's impossible!" She threw her hands up. "Jesus Christ, I don't even know your last name!"_

_Charlie closed the gap between the two of them and crushed his lips to hers. Sarah, shocked, clutched at him for dear life. Charlie broke the kiss, breathing raggedly. _

_"My last name is Weasley." He kissed her swiftly and passionately once more. "And I think I am in love with you too, Sarah Adams."_

_Sarah, still in shock from the kiss, breathed heavily through her nose as she stared in bewilderment at the man before her. "Charlie…I- we…"_

_Charlie silenced her with a gentle kiss. "Sarah… I think we should just relax. So what if we've only known each other for a few weeks? Let's just be together when we want to and not worry about taking things a certain speed." Charlie slid his hands from Sarah's shoulders down to her wrists, where he gently raised her hand and planted a kiss on her palm. "What do you say?"_

_Sarah felt her heart beat fast as she considered Charlie's words. The man before her had just professed his love for her- but then again so had she, albeit a bit hesitantly…maybe he was right. She looked up at him shyly through her lashes._

_"Alright," she said softly, "We'll just be together. However we want." Charlie smiled down at her, brushing a stray lock of purple hair from her face. "Besides," she added mischievously, "Who says dating should have a routine to follow?"_

_Charlie raised an eyebrow and tapped her on the nose with his index finger. "Too true…" _

_"And right now, I think we should break routine, and go get hammered in the nearest bar," Sarah said cheekily. Her nerves, at this point, were shot, and she could do well with a strong drink. Charlie laughed aloud at this, and nodded. _

_"I definitely agree." Charlie reluctantly pulled away from Sarah and gathered his coat. They left the theater hand in hand, and while they took a taxi to the nearest bar, there was hardly an inch of space between them. Charlie smiled down at the purple-haired girl next to him, and felt his heart swell as she grinned back. _

_Charlie threw some money in the front seat as he and Sarah exited the taxi outside a club called Barracuda. The pounding music could be heard from outside. Sarah pulled Charlie through the door and they headed straight for the bar. The bartender, a pale gothic looking woman, leaned closer to Charlie. _

_"What can I get you honey?" she said, running her eyes down Charlie appreciatively. Charlie ignored her and turned to Sarah._

_"You first," He said, sliding his hand to the small of Sarah's back. Sarah smiled at the bartender. _

_"Scotch on the rocks," she replied. The bartender's smile vanished as she roughly clunked a glass down on the countertop. _

_"And you?" she said to Charlie, no longer as sweet. As Charlie ordered a rum and coke, Sarah took the time to examine her surroundings. Barracuda was a typical club- flashing lights, plenty of alcohol, and pounding music accompanied by writhing bodies on the dance floor. Sarah felt slightly out of place in her nice dress and heels. A scantily clad girl whirled past her with a man close behind. She blushed as the girl ground her body against her dance partner's. _

_"Here you go," Charlie said, nudging her arm slightly with the scotch. _

_Sarah smiled up at him and took it, downing it in one._

_"Hey, easy!" Charlie exclaimed, though he couldn't keep a grin off his face. Sarah shrugged her shoulders._

_"C'mon, lover boy. Let's go find a place to sit," she replied, grabbing his hand and pulling him in the direction of a secluded booth. When they reached the table, Sarah made to let go of Charlie's hand, but he wouldn't let her. Instead, he slid into the booth beside her, resting his hand on her thigh. Charlie stopped a passing waitress and ordered another drink for Sarah. _

_"So…what are we going to do?" Sarah asked, taking a sip of Charlie's rum and coke. _

_"You mean about us?" Charlie replied. Sarah nodded silently, then thanked the waitress as her drink came. Charlie settled back in his seat and Sarah followed, leaning against him comfortably. "Well, I thought we decided just to see where things take us," he said. _

_Sarah nodded. "Good, just making sure." Then, feeling brave- possibly from the alcohol coursing through her body- leaned up and captured Charlie's lips in a swift kiss. She pulled back, but only slightly, for Charlie had grasped the back of her head with one hand, and bent for a more satisfying kiss. Sarah felt like her body was on fire as Charlie kissed her. She gripped his shirt tightly in her fists, pulling away only as someone nearby whistled at the two of them. _

_Charlie grinned at the light blush dusting across Sarah's face. "Not one for public displays of affection?" he teased, releasing her. _

_"With my old boyfriends, no. But with you I am much more comfortable." She sipped some more scotch. "I think I just need to get used to it." _

_Charlie laughed and pulled her in for another kiss. _

_"Let me help you 'get used to it'."_

Here Sarah was beginning to fight the fog of her hangover. Getting out of bed to search for something to wear, Sarah struggled to remember what exactly had occurred. She looked back at Charlie sleeping in the bed, and grinned. _Well, she certainly knew _that_ had happened._ Sarah glanced between Charlie's dress shirt on the floor and her dress draped over a chair in the corner. Opting in favor of Charlie's shirt, she scrounged around for her underwear as well. Pulling on those, Sarah breathed a sudden sigh of relief as she spotted a condom wrapper on the floor. While she hadn't thought of it before, it came as a relief to her that they were sensible enough to use a condom. Picking up the wrapper, Sarah pranced into the adjoined bathroom to throw it away. She stopped in front of the mirror to examine her reflection.

Her purple hair was a mess. Definitely after sex hair. Her mascara was smudged around her eyes, making her look like a really, really satisfied raccoon. Sarah grinned at herself in the mirror and reached up to fasten one more button on Charlie's shirt.

Sarah froze at what she saw in the mirror's reflection. There, laying smack dab on her left hand, was a diamond ring. Sarah tore her eyes from the reflection and down to her hand. Yep, it was really there.

"Oh no… this isn't happening," she muttered to herself. Dashing back into the bedroom, Sarah pounced on a still sleeping Charlie. He awoke with a start.

"Sarah, what the-?"

Sarah was clawing through the blankets, trying to reach Charlie's left hand. Grabbing it roughly, she pulled it close to her face. Her heart sunk. He too had a ring adorning his finger, only his was a simple silver band. She let Charlie's hand drop.

Charlie looked up at Sarah, who was straddling his waist. His eyes widened as she held up her left hand and showed him the ring.

"Charlie, I- I can't remember. Did we get married last night?" she asked quietly. Charlie, still lying there, shook himself out of a stupor.

"Ah…" Charlie thought back. "Yes. I believe we did."

"Oh. My. God," Sarah said, her face crumpling. She let herself drop forward onto Charlie's chest, who was only too happy to receive her. "What are we going to do?" she wailed.

Charlie was silent. Through his hazy memory, he could clearly remember them leaving the club, thoroughly drunk, and headed to a chapel that not only performed weddings at all hours, but also sold wedding rings. He looked down at Sarah, who was sniffling into his shirt. He understood her panic, but instead of feeling the same, he felt oddly… content.

"Sarah- look at me," he said, sitting up. Sarah sat up as well, and it was just then Charlie realized they- well, just him actually- were in a state of undress. "What did we talk about last night?"

Sarah stopped sniffling. "Um… well, we talked about my family, and school, and…" Charlie laughed; a feeling of giddiness was beginning to course through him.

"No," he said gently, reaching up to brush hair out of Sarah's face, "We talked about how we weren't going to follow any rules. We're just going to follow how we feel about each other." He took Sarah's left hand and stroked his thumb across the diamond ring. "Sarah, we said that we loved each other last night-."

"But-!"

"And apparently," Charlie continued over her, "Apparently our drunken subconscious decided that the next step was marriage."

There! That had gotten a smile out of her. Charlie bent forward and kissed Sarah softly. "Maybe getting married was a little drastic. But I don't feel guilty. Do you?"

Sarah was silent for a moment. She had always been proud of the fact that she had never done anything as stupid as this before. Sure, she'd had sex before, drunken sex even, but she'd never gotten married. She wasn't that girl who got knocked up early in life, or had gotten married way before she was ready. But the feelings she had for Charlie were strange and new to her. Maybe he was right. Maybe they could jump right into the waters, instead of wading in… She lifted Charlie's hand to her lips.

"No." she murmured. "No, I don't feel guilty."

Charlie felt an odd sense of elation soar through him, and he leaned in for a kiss.

BANG!

"Charlie, mate, you ain't up ye- OH! Sorry!"

Sarah shrieked as the door to the room swung open with a bang, and a red headed man barged in. His hair was long and pulled back in a pony tail. Sarah even thought she glimpsed a fang in his ear.

Charlie felt his blood run cold when he realized where they all were- in his flat.

In Romania.

Jumping up, he pulled on his slacks and looked from Bill to Sarah, the latter who was pulling blankets over her bare legs. Bill clapped him on the back.

"So you told her already? She must have taken it pretty well!" He exclaimed. Charlie furiously shook his head for Bill to shut it, but it was too late. Sarah had caught what Bill had said.

"Tell me what?" she asked, her fear subsiding somewhat now that she realized Charlie knew this man. Before either man could answer, however, Sarah was looking past both of them, through the open bedroom door.

In a flash, Sarah was out of the bed, pushing past the two men- completely disregarding the fact that she was in only her panties and Charlie's dress shirt, which reached only to her thighs.

Charlie groaned and chased after Sarah, Bill hot on his heels.

Sarah felt her blood freeze as she stopped in the middle of a living room. _I've been here before… _She turned abruptly on her heel to see Charlie and the other man after her. She felt her breathing shallow.

"How the hell am I in Romania?" she whispered, her voice cracking slightly with her panic. Charlie started towards her, but Sarah backed away. "Charlie, I KNOW that I would have remembered boarding a plane- drunk or not! HOW AM I HERE?"

Bill slinked off to the kitchen with an "I'll leave you to it" to Charlie. Charlie rubbed his hand over his face.

"This isn't how I wanted you to find out," he said to Sarah desperately. Sarah was very close to hyperventilating.

"Find out what?" she managed to breath out. Charlie glanced at the ring on his finger. Right. It was now or never.

"Sarah, I'm a wizard."

Sarah stared at him. Had she just slept with a madman? Her eyes narrowed.

"Listen, Charlie, I don't know what you're playing at, but-!" Sarah shrieked suddenly as Charlie disappeared with a loud POP!

A second passed, then another. Then-

POP! Charlie was back.

"I am a wizard, and that is how we are in Romania," he said, examining Sarah's pale face with concern.

"A wizard?" Sarah asked faintly. Charlie nodded, and took a step towards Sarah, who didn't move away. Charlie spotted his wand on the coffee table, and picked it up.

"This is a wand," he said slowly, "It's how I perform magic." To illustrate his point, he pointed his wand at a book on a shelf behind Sarah. "Accio book."

Sarah gasped as a book went flying past her, and into Charlie's hand. He held it up for her to see.

"A wizard?" Sarah repeated. Charlie, sighing, nodded. Sarah nodded with him. "Right. I think I'm going to pass out now." And with that, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed.

"Well, that went well." Bill said from the doorway, an apple in his hand. Charlie glared at him from his place beside Sarah, whom he had deposited onto his couch. He was dabbing a wet cloth across her forehead. Bill held his hands up in defense.

"Hey, you could have taken her to a hotel or something, but you just _had _to apparate back to your place." He munched on his apple. "I might not have helped things by barging in, but I certainly didn't cause this mess."

Charlie sighed and nodded. "I know, I know… I just wish there was an easier way. Especially now that we're married…"

The apple fell out of Bill's hand. "WHAT?" he exclaimed, a look of shock on his face. Charlie held up his left hand in response.

"We both got absolutely pissed last night, and, well one thing led to another- and we're married now."

Bill whistled. "Mum's going to have a fit when she finds out."

Charlie looked at his brother seriously. "You can't tell mum," he replied, "Let me do it in my own time."

"Okay," Bill said, "I won't say a thing." Bill looked at the girl on the couch, and smiled. She really was a pretty bird. And judging from the way Charlie looked at her, Charlie thought so too. Sarah began to stir.

"Should I leave?" Bill asked. Charlie shook his head.

"No, it might help her actually believe me if another person can back up my story," he replied. Bill nodded, and picked his apple back up. Sarah opened her eyes to see a concerned Charlie bent over her. She took a deep breath.

"Charlie, please tell me that was all a dream," she said softly. Charlie smiled gently at her, but shook his head. Sarah groaned, and kept replaying the image of a book flying past her in her head. She sat up quickly, and then struggled to her feet. Still seemingly unperturbed by the fact she was barely dressed in front of two men- one she didn't know at all- Sarah put her hands on her hips, her shoulders squared.

"So. You're a wizard," she stated. Charlie nodded. Sarah pointed at Bill. "And you're a wizard?" Bill nodded. Sarah pointed at herself. "And I'm not insane?" The brothers, both smiling at this point, shook their heads in unison. Sarah sighed deeply, but then put on a shaky smile.

"Are you alright?" Charlie asked cautiously. Sarah smile at him.

"Yes. I am fine. In fact, I'm better than fine." Sarah stepped past him and picked up Charlie's wand. "I'm just going to accept this, and roll with it!" She said, shaking the wand at him. Charlie stared.

"Sarah… are you sure you are okay?"

Sarah's shoulders slumped. "No, Charlie, of course I'm not. I just found out that magic is real." She pushed her hair out of her eyes. "But I've decided in the past ten seconds, that I am going to try to be okay with this." She looked up at him. "Charlie, I love you. I don't know why, or even how, but I know that I do." Sarah looked at the ring on her finger. "And it looks like we're going to be together for a while- so I might as well just accept that you're a…wizard, and move on." She looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Right?"

Charlie felt that his heart might burst. Swooping Sarah up into his arms, Charlie whirled her around as she laughed. He set her down after a few moments, and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"I love you," he said seriously, before stooping to kiss her.

"A-hem."

Charlie rolled his eyes. He pulled away from Sarah, and motioned to Bill. "Sarah, this is my brother Bill." Bill bowed grandly to Sarah, who giggled, and then blushed as she finally realized her state of undress.

"Nice to meet you. Um… I think I'm going to go get dressed now." Sarah said, completely mortified. Both men nodded as she darted off the bedroom.

Sarah pulled on her dress from last night with a faint smile on her face. _Who knew this would end up being my wedding gown?_ Going into the bathroom, Sarah wiped her smudged eyes so it looked a little less raccoon-ish and more like eyeliner and mascara. Scrounging around the bathroom, Sarah found a spare toothbrush still in its wrapper, and set about cleaning herself up a bit.

Charlie and Bill moved into the kitchen to talk some more. Bill grabbed a butter beer out of the fridge, and offered one to Charlie, who declined.

"It's like three o'clock in the afternoon," Bill commented, "That must be some hangover." Charlie laughed, but then became serious again.

"What do you think mum is going to say?" Charlie asked, "I mean, when I actually tell her I got married and she wasn't at the ceremony."

"Probably throw a fit and make you do it again, only her way," Bill replied, taking a swig of his beer.

"Do you think she'll like Sarah?"

Bill shrugged. "I don't really know her, so I can't say what mum will think." He gestured towards the bedroom, where Sarah was currently. "But you love her, and that's all that matters." Charlie smiled.

"Thanks."

Sarah entered the kitchen then, this time fully clothed. She smiled at Bill. "So… did I make the right decision in marrying Charlie?" she teased. Bill laughed and set down his drink.

"Well, sometimes he can be a bit of a prick, but we still love him all the same." Bill dodged a swipe from Charlie, and pranced over to Sarah. He bent down and gave her a big hug. "Welcome to the family Sarah." Bill said nicely. "Let's just hope you're ready to be a Weasley."

They followed Bill out to the living room, where Sarah watched as he grabbed a handful of powder from a jar on the mantle. Bill turned to Sarah. "This is called floo powder. It's another form of transportation for wizards and witches." Sarah, amazed, gaped as Bill threw the powder into the empty fireplace, and watched as a green fire sprung to life. Bill waved to them both stepped into the flames, and with a shout of "The Burrow!" was gone. The fire disappeared with him. Sarah felt her knees grow weak and her head feel light.

Sarah raised her eyebrows at Charlie. "I can tell that my life with you isn't going to be normal is it?" Charlie laughed and engulfed her in a hug, pulling away just enough to face her, but still have her in his arms.

"I like hearing that," he said. "Our lives together..." He paused for a moment. "We really got married, didn't we?"

Sarah laughed and ran her hands down Charlie's bare chest, tracing a dangerous looking scar. "Yes, it looks like it." Sobering slightly, she looked up at him. "I guess I'm now Sarah Weasley, huh?"

Charlie nodded, and suddenly picked her up. "And now, Mrs. Weasley, I think you and I need to take care of some interrupted business." Charlie started towards the bedroom.

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about wildly satisfying sex, would you Mr. Weasley?" Sarah replied. Charlie, now having reached the bedroom, dropped Sarah unceremoniously onto the bed, looking down at her with an amused expression.

"How blunt of you. But yes, yes I am." Charlie crawled onto the bed, Sarah slowly retreating towards the headboard. Charlie hovered over her when they were both still. Sarah's purple hair was fanned out behind her like a halo, a stark contrast against the white of the pillowcase. Charlie smiled down at her, brushing the pad of his thumb across her cheek. "I think we did a good thing, getting married," he whispered. Sarah brought her left hand up to examine the ring.

It really was a pretty thing. It was a white gold three stone ring, with a perfectly sized diamond flanked by two smaller diamonds. "I can't believe you bought me this," Sarah murmured, "It's so pretty." Charlie captured her hand in his and brought it to his lips.

"And I can't believe you are still here, after all you found out today," he replied seriously. Sarah flashed him a smirk.

"I'm just using you for the sex," she said cheekily. Charlie laughed and dipped his head forward, catching her in a lip-bruising kiss that left her breathless.

"Let's get on with it then," he said.

It was amidst many giggles, sighs and moans did Sarah's beautiful dress once more find its way onto the ground. But Sarah didn't mind.

It had, after all, served its purpose.

* * *

Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! On an important note, there was some speculation about Sarah's reaction to finding out Charlie was a wizard. I had a tough time figuring out how she would react to the news- should I make her totally chill, or have a major freak out? I couldn't decide, and so I think that this whole fic will basically be Sarah's integration into the magical community, and how she handles it.

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Chapter 9 Publish Date: April 22, 2009**

* * *

Charlie shifted slightly so he was facing Sarah. He peered down at her sleeping form, and smiled at the peaceful look upon her face. After Bill had left, the pair spent the rest of the day in bed, exploring their newly found relationship. Now it was nearing seven o'clock at night, and Charlie knew they had some things to discuss. Charlie was still in awe of Sarah's attitude towards what he was. He knew she lied to him a bit when she said she was okay with 'the whole wizard thing', but he saw that Sarah truly was trying.

Placing a tender kiss on Sarah's exposed shoulder, Charlie slid out of bed and crossed the room to his dresser and pulled a shirt and some jeans out of the drawers. As he dressed, he kept an eye on Sarah, who has still dozing easily. The blankets had ridden up and wrapped around her hips, giving him a pretty nice view of her legs. He shook his head as he realized, yet again, that he'd just gotten married. Finished with his clothes, he sat on the edge of the bed and placed a kiss on Sarah's forehead.

Sarah stirred as she felt a light pressure along her hairline. She grinned as Charlie pulled away. Opening her eyes, she smiled up at him.

"Hi," she said, her voice hoarse, "How are you?"

"Good," replied Charlie, "You ready to get up, sleepyhead?"

Sarah stretched languidly before sitting up, allowing the blankets to pool around her waist.

"If I must," she sighed, flashing him a teasing grin. She crawled out of bed, and for the second time that day, donned her dress. She pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail and turned back to Charlie.

"So what now?" she asked as she put her earrings back in.

"Well, we should probably get you back to London, before anyone misses you." Charlie replied, moving past her into the living room. Sarah grabbed her shoes and purse from the floor and followed.

"I need to feed Kirby too!" she said, horrified. "He must be so hungry!"

Charlie smiled and turned towards her. "I'm sure Kirby is just fine." He checked his watch. "It's about five o'clock a night in London- you ready to head back?"

Sarah bounced up and down. "Is this going to include magic?" Although she was still extremely wary of everything she had just learned within the past few hours, the prospect of seeing more magic was electrifying. "Are we going to do that thing your brother Bill did? The Loo Powder?"

Charlie laughed as he fetched his wand off the coffee table. "It's Floo Powder, not loo, and no, your flat isn't set up for the floo network." With a wave of his wand, he wordlessly strengthened the wards on his house. Sarah crinkled her nose in confusion.

"Nothing happened."

"Not all magic has a visible affect," Charlie said. "Anyway, I was just casting a spell to protect the house while I am away." He closed the space between Sarah and himself and placed his hands on her shoulders. He looked her squarely in the eye. "You trust me, don't you?"

Sarah gave him a pointed look and held up her left hand. "Apparently," she replied, indicating the diamond ring. Charlie grinned.

"We are going to apparate back to London- you know, I showed you that earlier?"

Sarah thought for a second. _When he disappeared? We're going to do that?! _

"You are going to have to hold on tight- don't let go no matter what." Charlie said seriously, wrapping his arms about Sarah and pulling her close. He could feel Sarah's heartbeat quicken with panic. He kissed the top of her head. "It'll be all right, I promise," he murmured.

Sarah clenched her eyes shut, feeling her heart go crazy as she prepared to transport from one location to the other in a mere second. Suddenly, her heart was in her throat as she felt like she was being squeezed from all sides, and the air was pressed from her lungs. She wanted to scream in fright, but her body seemed frozen in place. Then, as soon as the sensation started, it stopped, and Sarah could feel solid ground beneath her feet.

Stumbling away from Charlie, Sarah held her head as her apartment swam before her eyes. Charlie was quickly at her side and guided her over to her couch, where she could regain her bearings.

"How you feeling?" he asked worriedly. Sarah had gone quite pale- and almost had a green tint to her face. "Sarah?"

"Umm, I'm okay," Sarah replied, tentatively lifting her head. "Is it like that every time?" Charlie nodded and straightened, glancing around the apartment. He spotted Kirby zooming from Sarah's bedroom and towards them. He laughed and scooped the chinchilla up as ran by.

"Looks like someone missed you- and your food!"

Sarah tried to stand, but was still unsteady from the trip. Charlie gently pushed her back into the seat and walked into the kitchen.

"Just take your time and recover- where is Kirby's food?" Charlie got a muffled reply and began searching through the lower cabinets in the tiny kitchen. Kirby began to chirp loudly as he reached the third cabinet. Charlie suspected it held his food, and he was correct. Charlie left Kirby munching happily as he made his way back toward his wife.

Sarah was just coming out of the bedroom in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, still pale, but steady on her feet. "Hey," she said, smiling at him.

Charlie greeted her with a kiss and they both sat on the couch. It was silent for a moment, with the only sound coming from Kirby's frenzied eating.

"So what now?" Sarah said, breaking the silence. Charlie leaned back and shrugged.

"I suppose we do what married couples do now. Move in together, and live our lives." He glanced back at Sarah, who was smiling dreamily.

"I never thought I'd be married at twenty-two!" she said, giggling. "But, seriously, where would we live? I have to go to school, and you have to work in Romania…" Sarah trailed off, and her eyes glazed over as if she was remembering something. "You don't really work with exotic animals, do you?" She asked. Charlie laughed outright.

"After a fashion. I actually work with dragons."

_"Dragons?"_ Sarah exclaimed. "You're kidding, right?" Charlie shook his head. Sarah leaned back in her seat in amazement. "Wow, I'd like to see a dragon."

Charlie winced inwardly, remembering the terrified look on her face when she had been attacked by Raltred. He briefly considered telling her about the incident, but quickly decided that it would only confuse her further. Besides, he could take her to D.R.A.C.O sometime and let her see dragons in a safe, controlled environment. She might like them better if she didn't know she had been attacked by one.

"Anyway," Charlie said, breaking from his thoughts, "I can apparate or Floo to Romania every day- we can buy a house here in London."

"A house? Charlie, I don't have that kind of money- I'm still a student. As it is, I am only able to afford this run down apartment." Sarah replied practically.

"I have the money, Sarah. I can pay for-…"

"No Charlie, I can't let you do that," Sarah said, cutting him off. Charlie looked a bit hurt, so she rushed to set him at ease. "If we are going to be married, I want our relationship to be equal. I want to contribute to everything too," she reasoned. Charlie nodded.

"I understand…"

"And this is my last year of school. I will graduate and get a job- and get money to throw in," Sarah continued. "How about we move into a bigger apartment together- in the nicer part of town? That way we can move in together, and start saving."

"Why do you have to be so practical?" Charlie teased, leaning in for a kiss. Sarah met it happily, virtually melting into his arms. Charlie reluctantly pulled away.

"Now, for the scary part: my family."

Sarah eyed him warily. "Why is that scary?" Charlie sighed and rubbed a hand wearily over his face. Sarah's face fell. "You don't think they will like me? Is it because I'm not magic?" Charlie had an alarmed look on his face.

"What? No- God no, Sarah!" Charlie exclaimed, afraid Sarah would gather the wrong impression of his family. "It's just that- this is a sudden relationship. My father and siblings will be fine about it, and they will love you!"

Sarah looked confused. "Then why is it the scary part?" she asked, her voice small. Charlie sighed.

"My mother is a very…dominant woman, to say the least," Charlie began, "And us getting married without her…and in such a hasty fashion, will be a big blow to her ego. She might see you as a threat to her relationship with me."

Sarah smiled softly. "I think any mother would feel like that- especially when she wasn't invited to the wedding." She leaned in and gave Charlie a tender kiss on the lips. "I understand. Do what you need to with your parents, and I will do what I need to with mine." She made to pull away, but Charlie gripped her softly around the waist.

Charlie leaned in closer and cupped his wife's face gently. He dipped his head and gave her a searing kiss, which Sarah received eagerly. Charlie smiled against her lips, before running his tongue along Sarah's lower lip. Sarah sighed happily and ran her nails gently across Charlie's scalp.

Charlie slid his hands down to Sarah's hips, balling the hem of her tank top in his fists. He broke away from her momentarily to swiftly pull the shirt over Sarah's head, before immediately attaching his lips to her neck. Sarah laughed.

"How am I ever going to keep my clothes on around you?" Her body was on fire as Charlie left a trail of burning kiss down her throat, and towards the curve of her chest. He leaned closer to her, causing Sarah to fall back on to the couch. Charlie settled himself over her, and Sarah wrapped a leg around his thigh to make sure he wasn't going anywhere. Charlie stopped suddenly, and looked at Sarah seriously.

"I love you," he said softly. Sarah felt her heart melt, and she brushed back his hair.

"I love you too," she replied, before drawing him back to her lips. _I could get used to married life, _she thought as she and her husband explored each other.

BAM!

The couple broke apart as something slammed against the front door.

"What was that?" Sarah asked. Charlie sat back and felt for his wand. Sarah started as the noise suddenly continued on her door.

BAM! "SARAH ADAMS! I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE- YOUR LIGHT IS ON!"

Charlie looked at Sarah in confusion, who began to laugh loudly as she realized what was going on. Scrambling for her shirt, Sarah explained to Charlie.

"It's my friend Ronnie from school. She must be upset I didn't call her earlier," she said as she pulled the shirt over her head. Understanding dawned on Charlie, and he stood from the couch. He headed for the kitchen.

"I'll leave you to it, then," he replied with a smile. Sarah jogged to the door and pulled it open to find and irate Veronica standing before her. Sarah gave her a wide grin.

"Well hi Ronnie!" she said cheerfully. Veronica pushed past Sarah and into the apartment.

"Don't call me that," she said, throwing her purse onto the couch. "How could you leave me hanging, Sarah? I've been _dying _to know how the date went!" Veronica stamped her foot petulantly. Sarah carefully slid her left hand into her pant pocket to hide the wedding ring that adorned it.

"Er, it went great! Wonderful time." Sarah replied, shifting nervously. Veronica stiffened and an astounded look covered her face.

"Sarah Beth Adams! You had sex!"

Sarah sputtered in embarrassment. "Ronnie, how the hell did you know that?" she asked. Veronica's countenance became one of complete satisfaction.

"Like I've said, I know everything. So, was it good? Was his you-know-what big en-!"

"_Ronnie_!" Sarah hissed, her face becoming red. "He's here right now!"

Veronica was at her side in a flash. "What? Why didn't you say so? I want to meet him!"

Sarah laughed at her enthusiasm. "He's in the kitchen. Charlie?" Veronica turned away to get something from her purse as Charlie emerged from the kitchen. "Charlie, this is my friend Ronnie. Ronnie, this is Charlie."

Veronica turned back, and her expression immediately turned from one of content to one of contempt. Charlie's expression also darkened.

"YOU!" they both exclaimed at the same time. Sarah stepped back in surprise as the once comfortable atmosphere turned tense.

"Do… you two know each other?"

Neither said anything for a moment. Then,

"Ah, Sarah, Veronica and I used to date." Charlie said awkwardly. Veronica scoffed and turned up her nose.

"Way to understate it. We weren't some little fling, Weasley. I'm your ex-fiancée."

_

* * *

Please Review_


	10. Chapter 10

Wow… I must say that I am extremely flattered and thankful for all the feedback you guys are giving me. I am really amazed at how much attention this fic is gathering so quickly. Also, thanks for sticking with me and my flaky updating. You guys are angels!

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Date I wanted to publish it: May 19th, 2009 (Happy Birthday to Me!)**

**Actual Publish Date: June 8th, 2009. (Happy Belated Birthday to Me!)**

Holy crap, I can't believe I made it to 20 years old.

Chapter 10? Awesome!

* * *

Sarah felt her heart skip a beat. _What?! _She could feel her face starting to flush in disbelief. Charlie was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Veronica was staring at Charlie, her nostrils flaring.

"Sarah, what the hell are you thinking in dating this man?" Veronica exclaimed, gesturing wildly about her. "You know nothing about him- I guarantee it!" Charlie's face grew stormy.

"Just because _you_ screwed up our relationship doesn't give you the right to-!"

"ME SCREW IT UP?" Veronica shrieked. "It wasn't my fault and you know it!"

Charlie laughed scathingly and nodded his head. "Right. You cheated on me and it's my fault. That's so typical of you Veronica." Veronica stepped closer to Charlie and poked him hard in the chest.

"You drove me to it, you imbecile. I was always so lonely and Edwin was there to comfort me," Veronica shouted back. "If you had paid a little bit more attention to our relationship, maybe I wouldn't have cheated!"

While the pair quarreled back and forth about who exactly had ruined their romance, Sarah had pulled her left hand out of her pocket, and was gazing at the ring that lay upon it. She was getting a sinking feeling in her stomach- the kind you usually get when you realize you've just made a horrible mistake. _She's right. I don't know him. How could I be so stupid? _The conversation before her suddenly flooded back to her ears.

"God, you and you fucking dragons Charlie- that's all you ever cared about!" Veronica shrieked.

"You used to care about 'em too, until your wand got broken by one! That's all you ever talked about." Charlie yelled back, his facing getting red.

"That wand was in my family for centuries! It was diamond encrusted!"

"What?" Sarah's small voice was out of place amongst the shouting. It drew the attention of the squabbling duo. "A wand?" The pair turned to the Sarah. Veronica had paled, and was looking apologetic.

"Uh, Sarah- I think you misheard…" Veronica trailed off, and she exchanged an alarmed look with Charlie. Sarah felt small and insignificant- like she was missing out on some big joke.

"What is going on here?" She asked. Veronica quickly opened up her purse and retrieved what looked like a long polished stick. A wand. Before Sarah could blink, Veronica had the wand trained on her.

"I'm sorry, Sarah, but I have to do this." Veronica said, her voice firm. Sarah had backed up slightly and was looking between Charlie and Veronica. Charlie looked alarmed and crossed the room to block Sarah from Veronica's aim.

"Veronica, relax- she knows," he said, raising his hands slightly. "I've already told her." With a confused look on her face, Veronica lowered her wand.

"She knows? B-but, you've only been dating-!"

"I know, but… something happened between us that required a little explanation." Charlie interrupted. At this point, Sarah lost her temper. Pushing past Charlie, she turned to face the two people she was finding harder and harder to trust with every passing moment.

"Are you a witch?!" she demanded, planting her hands on her hips in anger. Veronica swallowed hard, gripping her wand tightly.

"Yes." she replied hoarsely.

"Sarah, please calm-!" Charlie started.

"No, Charlie! What the hell is going on here?" Sarah interrupted. "Is everyone but me in on some little secret?"

"Please, Sarah, we're not supposed to tell muggles about magic," Veronica said softly, "Believe me, I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't."

"A Muggle? Is that what I'm called?" Sarah said indignantly. "I am I some big joke to you all?" This was said softly, and full of hurt. Veronica and Charlie exchanged remorseful glances. They felt awful, but what could they do? The ministry had strict laws concerning muggle- wizard relations.

"Maybe I should go," Veronica said, sensing that Charlie and Sarah had some things to work out between them. Sarah nodded vigorously.

"I think that would be wise," she said. "Charlie, you go with her."

Charlie looked hurt. "Sarah…"

"Stop saying my name!" Sarah said, placing her hands over her ears as she shook her head. She felt so overwhelmed, so faint. Her breathing was harsh and ragged. Sarah yanked the pretty ring off her finger and threw it at Charlie. It bounced hard off his chest, and landed in his outstretched palms. "And take your ring too. I want a divorce."

No one moved.

"OUT!" she said loudly. Veronica nodded, and gathered her things quickly. Charlie looked hard at Sarah a moment longer, before following Veronica out the door. When the door slid shut, the only noise left was Sarah's harsh breathing, and Kirby's munching. Feeling utterly and completely alone, Sarah collapsed to the floor, her body shaking as she wept. She wanted to vomit, to scream, to fly into a rage- and all she could do was cry.

Outside, the pair could hear Sarah's sobs. Charlie turned on his heel to barge back in the apartment, but Veronica's hand on his arm stayed him.

"Charlie…" her voice was uncharacteristically soft. "Don't."

Charlie rubbed a hand over his weary face. He wanted so badly to rush back in there, to hold Sarah until she stopped crying. He gazed down at the ring she had thrown back at him. Veronica was staring at it in shock.

"Is that… what I think it is?" she asked, gaping at him in disbelief. Charlie made a fist over the ring, his hand shaking hard. Veronica blew out a stream of air before tugging on Charlie's shirt sleeve. "C'mon, I'll buy you a drink. I know I need some vodka at this point. You can explain everything then."

Charlie didn't move at first. But then, he gave a barely imperceptible nod and the pair dejectedly apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. Tom was standing at the bar, cleaning the counter. He raised his eyebrows, but greeted the pair when they entered.

"Well, well- look who it is! The golden couple is back!" he said with a smile. Charlie, though usually cordial to the agreeable barkeeper, ignored him.

"Firewhisky," he said hoarsely. Tom's smile diminished somewhat as he reached for a shot glass.

"Shot of vodka," Veronica added, sliding onto a barstool. She turned to Charlie and brushed her long hair out of her face as she sipped the strong alcohol.

Charlie examined his former fiancé with some curiosity. Veronica's manicured nails and high end clothing stood out in stark contrast to the griminess of the Leaky Cauldron. He downed his Firewhisky in one gulp. Veronica had been an interesting relationship to say the least. One filled with more passion than love. He had thought he loved her at one point, but it was superficial. He knew what love was now.

"So," Veronica prompted, ordering another shot. "Engaged?"

"Married, actually," Charlie replied. Veronica raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, but to her credit, she didn't comment. "We got drunk on our last date and woke up married."

"Wow. Judging from the look on your face when she threw the ring at you, I get the feeling you didn't really have a problem with being married," Veronica replied. Charlie sneered.

"Well now it looks like I'm getting a divorce," He replied cynically. "Some husband I was."

"You have to see it from Sarah's point of view," Veronica said. "Not only is she thrust into this completely alien world, she finds that her best friend already knew it existed."

"You know, I never would have taken you two for friends," Charlie replied. "You don't seem that compatible." Veronica laughed, tossing her head back.

"It is an interesting relationship," she admitted, "But one I cherish. I've never met anyone quite like Sarah before. She's so childlike sometimes- it drives me crazy! But she's goodhearted, and a very gentle soul. I think that's the loudest- and angriest- I've ever heard her."

Charlie sighed and dropped his head. "I hardly know anything about her, and yet I can't stop thinking about her."

Veronica examined the defeated man before her. She felt a tiny twinge of remorse that their relationship didn't work out. She was in love with him at one point, but slowly her passion died. Veronica fell into temptation with another man, and it had ruined a relationship already on the rocks. She could see it was for the best now, however. The way Charlie looked now…Veronica knew that she was never the one for him. Sarah obviously was- no matter how short a time they had known each other. She sighed.

"What are you going to do?" she asked softly, taking a sip of the vodka. "Give up?" At this, Charlie's head flew up and he stared hard at her.

"No. I can't… I can't let her go," he replied hoarsely. Veronica nodded, her gaze softening. She downed the rest of her shot in one.

"I say give her a day or two to let her cool off," Veronica replied, "Maybe when I see her at class tomorrow I can speak with her." She stood and grabbed her purse, turning to leave. She paused and looked back at Charlie. "Charlie…"

He raised his head to show that he had heard.

"I'm sorry I messed things up today. If I hadn't come over…"

Charlie raised his hand and waved the apology away. "It was bound to happen sooner or later." Veronica nodded and put some money on the counter to pay for their drinks.

"Good to see you, Tom." She said, before exiting the pub with an air of remorse. Charlie sighed and let his head drop back into his hands.

"Another Firewhisky," he said gruffly.

It was hours later that Bill received a frantic floo call from Tom the bartender. He was enjoying a cup of tea with his fiancé when the fireplace lit up, and Tom's head appeared.

"Hey Tom! How have you been?" Bill asked cordially, looking at the clock. It was past ten. "A little late to chit chat, don't you think?" Tom's disembodied head shook furiously.

"I'm afraid this isn't a social call, Bill. It's about your brother." At this, Bill sat up straight, and a concerned look covered his scarred face. "He's here at the Cauldron, completely plastered. I'd cast a sobering spell, but it's against policy to wield a wand at my customers."

"What's wrong with him?" Bill asked, grabbing a jacket. "You've had Charlie be pretty drunk in your bar before. Is he getting belligerent?"

Tom shook his head. "He was in here with Veronica a few hours ago."

Bill felt his eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. "Veronica?!"

"Yeah. She left soon after they got here, but he's been here drinking ever since. Keeps going on about some bird named Sarah," Tom replied. Bill felt his heart sink.

"Alright, I'll be there soon Tom. Thanks for letting me know."

Tom's head vanished. Fleur looked up from the book she was reading.

"Eez everyzing alright, Bill?" she asked, concern etched into her French accent. Bill sighed.

"I don't know, honestly." He leaned forward and placed a kiss on his fiancé's head. "I'll be back soon."

Fleur nodded and, smiling at him, watched as Bill threw Floo Powder into the fireplace, and disappeared.

Bill arrived at The Leaky Cauldron moments later, stepping from the fireplace in the corner of the pub. His eyes found Charlie immediately; he was at the bar, and the other patrons had given him wide berth. Tom caught Bill's eye and gave him a thankful look.

"I love her- you know!" Charlie exclaimed to Tom, who nodded in agreement. Bill approached his brother cautiously.

"Charlie…?" his brother turned at the sound of his name. His eyes were swollen a bit, and he had a shot of alcohol in his hand. Charlie gave him a sardonic smile.

"The honeymoon's over, mate! She left me." He downed his shot. Bill slid into the open spot next to his brother.

"Sarah, Charlie?" he asked softly. Charlie nodded miserably.

"Veronica showed up at her apartment to check on her… and our relationship all came out," he replied. He motioned for another shot from Tom, who gave it to him. However, when Charlie wasn't looking, Bill turned the alcohol into water with a prod from his wand. Charlie was so drunk that he didn't even notice it.

"She got mad at you being engaged before?" Bill asked, trying to keep his brother talking. Charlie shook his head.

"No! She didn't get mad at that- though she has every right to. She got mad…" Charlie trailed off as he thought hard. "Well, I don't know the exact reason why she got mad. There were a lot of things going on. Mainly she was upset about Veronica being a witch and stuff… stuff like that."

Bill, though he didn't know the whole story, already understood Sarah's feelings. Sighing, he clapped a hand on Charlie's shoulder, and forced him from the bar.

"C'mon, mate, let's get you home." He joint apparated with his brother back to his flat. Fleur jumped up in surprise as they entered the front door.

"Charlie!" she exclaimed, examining his disheveled appearance. "Eez everyzing okay?"

But Charlie had passed out. Giving Fleur a grimace, Bill dragged his brother from the living room into the guest room. He removed Charlie's shoes and tucked him in. Turning, Bill saw Fleur in the doorway with a glass of water. She placed it on the bedside table, before exiting the bedroom. Bill followed her out.

"What eez going on, Bill?" she asked. Bill sighed and collapsed on the couch.

"It's a long story," he replied. "And kind of… complicated." This did not satisfy Fleur, however, and she moved to stand in front of him, her hands on her hips.

"Eef your brother eez going to be staying here, I want to know why he eez so- so sick!" she said, raising an eyebrow. Bill, though a seasoned warrior, did not envy being around his girlfriend when she was in a mood, and relented easily.

He told her Sarah- everything he knew, including the short engagement and wedding. At the end of his story, Fleur clasped her hands together and gasped.

"So romantic!" she said dreamily, "Oh how sweet." She leaned back in her chair and nodded to herself. "A girl like zat will not be able to stay away from Charlie for long, Bill, mark my words."

Bill looked to the bedroom where his brother slept in a drunken stupor. "I hope, for his sake, that you are right," he murmured.

* * *

Hours later, Sarah awoke slowly on her living room floor. At first she couldn't remember why she felt so horrid. Then she pushed past the headache and remembered the events leading up to her crying herself asleep. The tears began again, and Sarah refused to move from her spot. They were silent tears this time, however, and she almost felt like they weren't even falling. All of her energy was positively sapped.

Kirby was curled up next to her, snoring softly. Sarah managed to smile softly down at her furry friend, before placing a kiss on his head. Getting up from the floor, Sarah rubbed the tear streaks from her face and set about to find something to keep her busy. She eventually settled on cleaning her apartment, and was soon in rubber yellow gloves with a rag and cleaning solution in hand. As she scrubbed at the floors in her kitchen, she struggled to not think about the events that had transpired earlier. Several times she threw down her cleaning equipment to search for her phone with the intent of calling Charlie, but she forced herself to pick everything back up and continue washing.

A few hours later, she found herself in the bathroom that was connected to her bedroom. She was cleaning the sink harshly, working up a sweat as she scrubbed away at imaginary dirt. With a huff, she threw her gloves into the sink and stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying. Her hair was a positively horrid rat's nest. She shifted her gaze in the mirror, and she could see into the bedroom. Upon her bed lay the dress she had worn on her date. The dress that Veronica had given her.

Sarah shuffled to the bed and gently ran her fingers over the soft material. Sighing, she picked up the gown and hung it up in her closet, pushing it to the very back. The shoes went back in their box and were slid under her bed. She glanced at the clock and groaned inwardly at the time- three o'clock in the morning. She had class in just a few hours. Exhausted from the cleaning and crying, she crawled into bed, not even bothering to wash her face or untangle her hair. Reaching out, she set her alarm clock and pulled her blankets up over her head.

Hopefully tomorrow would be much kinder to her.

* * *

Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Yikes. I've been bad.

Holy crap you guys, I'm one review away from 100 reviews! Whose gonna make it happen, eh? Cookies to the winner!

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Publish Date: Monday, September 28, 2009. 1:56 a.m. **

* * *

The next few days progressed slowly for Sarah. Veronica tried several times to catch her eye in class, but Sarah had ignored her. As soon as class let out, Sarah rushed to leave before Veronica could catch her up. Sarah kept to herself in class, didn't raise her hand or answer questions. Even Professor Vance took note of her lackluster attitude. After class one day he pulled her aside.

"Sarah, is there something bothering you?" Emilio asked, taking note of his pupil's red rimmed eyes. Sarah adjusted her book bag and fidgeted with the straps.

"I, ah, no… nothing," she muttered, studiously avoiding her professor's eye. Emilio regarded her for a long second before nodding.

"Alright. I know that I'm just your professor, but know that you can always talk to me, okay?" he said lowly. Sarah shrugged and gave him a small smile before turning on her heel to retreat from the classroom. However, just as she reached the doorway, she turned back to Emilio.

"Professor Vance?"

Emilio looked up from his paperwork, an eyebrow raised. Sarah sighed and shuffled back into the classroom, now completely devoid of any straggling students.

"If you were angry with someone- angry enough to stop speaking to them, what does it mean if you feel bad about being angry with them?" she asked quietly. Emilio sat on the edge of his desk as he contemplated her words.

"I think it means you don't really want to be angry with them, Sarah," he replied, "That maybe you want things to return to the way they were."

Sarah sighed and finally met her professor's gaze. "But I have the _right _to be angry with them."

Emilio couldn't stop a small smile from creeping onto his face. "Sarah, just because you have the _right_ to be angry doesn't mean you _have _to be angry." At Sarah's confused look, he elaborated. "As human beings we have the inalienable right of emotions. No one has the right to tell us how we _should_ feel. There is only what we _do_ feel." Emilio stood from the desk and finished gathering his things. "Since you feel bad about being angry, I think you are mainly just upset with the situation itself, and not at the actual person."

Sarah sighed and nodded. "Thanks Professor." Emilio smiled and moved past his student.

"You're welcome. And if you want my advice, I say you should sit down with the person and explain how you feel. In addition to emotions, the ability of speech is a great asset that nature has bestowed upon us. Unfortunately, many humans assume that silence is more powerful." Emilio put his hat on and slid into his jacket. "They cannot hear what you do not say."

With that, Emilio Vance left his brightest pupil to her jumbled thoughts.

Sarah sighed and fished her cell phone out of her bag. She slowly dialed the number.

"Hey Veronica? Yeah, it's me… can we talk? Yes… no, that's perfect. See you in twenty minutes."

Sarah sat in a quiet café, stirring her coffee absentmindedly, when Veronica breezed through the door. The tall brunette quickly spotted Sarah and crossed the small café quickly. She slid into the seat across from Sarah and opened her mouth as if to speak, but Sarah held up her hand.

"No, just… just wait," she said softly. Veronica, looking very serious, nodded and fell silent. Sarah took a deep breath. "I wanted to… apologize for the way I reacted the other day."

Veronica looked incredulous. "Apologize? Sarah, if anything _I _should-,"

"Ronnie, please," Sarah interrupted. Veronica's mouth snapped shut. "I am sorry for yelling and throwing you and Charlie out. Yes, I was upset, but I should have talked it out like a civilized human being." Sarah pushed her coffee away and brushed her hair away from her face. "I was upset because you are also," and here Sarah lowered her voice, "you are also magic. I felt like I was some kind of joke. I don't know what's going on. And I want to know _now_."

Veronica fixed her friend with a serious gaze. "Okay. Okay, I can tell you. But believe me when I say that you'd much rather hear it from Charlie than me."

"We're not even talking about Charlie right now," Sarah replied stiffly. Veronica sat back in her chair with a frown. After a moment's thought she raised her hands up as she conceded the point.

"Alright. What do you want to know?" she said. Sarah gave her a pointed look, and Veronica couldn't help but give her a small grin. "Everything, I got it." She took her sunglasses off her head and set them on the table. "Sarah, there are two worlds: one magic, one not. The magic world consists of wizards, witches, magical creatures- everything in between. The non-magic world consists of people like you- muggles."

"What does that mean?" Sarah interjected.

"It just means people born without magic in their blood," Veronica replied. "Or if there is magic in the blood, it is so diluted that it doesn't show. Anyway, we have to keep these two worlds separate-,"

"Why?" Sarah interrupted again.

"Because everyone would want magical solutions to their problems," Veronica said. "Someone loses their job- they'd want someone to make their boss forget they fired them. Someone gets sick- they'd want magic to make them better. They would abuse the power."

Sarah looked confused. "And you don't abuse the power?" Veronica looked a bit taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

"Who lays down what exactly is 'abuse of power'?" Sarah asked. "If you use the magic for something you could very well do on your own, aren't you abusing it?"

Veronica looked slightly frustrated. "Sarah, the point is that muggles and the wizarding world need to be separated. Remember the witch burnings? Hmm? Our kind is terrified of what would happen if we were to reveal ourselves."

"But that was a long time ago," Sarah protested, "The world has changed. Now, I'm not saying just announce your arrival with a big show, but what if you were to slowly interject your magic in small areas of society?" Veronica smiled softly.

"There are many people who would wish muggles and wizarding folk to live side by side. But you are asking me questions I can't answer. Those are for the Ministry of Magic to decide upon."

"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Sarah asked in disbelief. "How can we not know?"

Veronica cocked her head to the side. "Magic," she replied devilishly. Sarah couldn't help herself and let out a weak giggle. She sat back in her chair and stretched, an odd feeling of relief coming over her.

"Okay," she said, "Okay. I'm just going to have to accept that there are some things I don't understand and I probably never will. But you will always tell me if I have questions, right?"

Veronica nodded vehemently. "Of course." Sarah took a sip of her coffee and grimaced at the now cold liquid.

"So… when you pointed your wand at me the other day, what were you going to do?" she asked innocently. Veronica looked sheepish and scratched the back of her head.

"Er- I was going to…modifyyourmemory," she replied quickly. Sarah quirked her eyebrow.

"Sorry?"

"I was going to modify your memory," Veronica replied, exasperated. "I was going to make you forget what you had heard- about me being a witch."

Sarah looked stunned. "You can do that? And why would you do that?"

Veronica nodded. "Magic is very, very powerful. There are few things it cannot do." She looked slightly uncomfortable. "And I would have had to do it because it is against Ministry law for muggles to know about magic- with a few exceptions of course."

Sarah looked panic stricken suddenly. "Are you going to have to- what was it- modify my memory now?" She gripped the sides of the table as if she was about to be shot. Veronica quickly set her at ease.

"Well, no- you are now a part of an exception," she said. Sarah looked confused. "Sarah, you may have thrown the ring back at him, but technically you are still married to Charlie. Marriage between muggles and magic folk is rare, but not unheard of. The Ministry had to allow wizards to tell their spouses about their magical abilities."

At the mention of Charlie, and semblance of cheer in Sarah drained away. She folded her hands in front of her and looked down at them.

"I wanted to be so mad at him," she said softly, "And I didn't even know why." She looked back at Veronica. "I miss him so much- and I don't know how I can." Sarah sniffed slightly and rubbed her still red eyes. "I hardly know him, and yet I feel like my heart is breaking."

Veronica reached across the table and squeezed her friend's hand. "I wasn't lying or joking earlier when I said that he could be the one," she said. "Back when you first told me about him, remember?"

Sarah nodded.

"Sometimes we form such strong connections with people in such a short time that it seems… not real. Like it's all in our head," Veronica continued, "But after we left your house that night, I spent some time with him. He _loves_ you, Sarah," she said seriously. Her tone was so solemn that Sarah looked up at her. "At one point I was his fiancé, and I _never_ came close to receiving the amount of love I can tell he has for you."

Sarah blinked tears away. "I really messed things up, huh?" she asked shakily. Veronica gave her a sympathetic look.

"We all messed up, Sarah, not just you."

Sarah sniffed loudly and wiped her eyes. "I wish you could wave your magic wand and make it all better," she joked miserably. Veronica smiled sadly.

"Love is one of the few things magic can't mend," she replied softly. After a beat of silence, she sighed. "You should call him. He misses you."

Sarah nodded resignedly. "Tonight. I need to figure out what to say." She shrugged and drummed her fingers on the table.

"You want to go hang out at my place?" she asked. Veronica looked down at her barely touched drink.

"You haven't finished you're coffee. C'mon, you paid for it, I'll wait," she replied. Sarah wrinkled her nose at the coffee.

"It's cold now. Yuck."

Veronica looked around the shop. It was nearly empty. The barista had her back turned and the other patron had his nose buried in a book. Veronica pulled her wand from the inside pocket of her jacket. She reached across the table and tapped the coffee mug twice. To Sarah's amazement, steam started to curl upward from the coffee. Veronica gave her an encouraging look when Sarah looked at her questioningly.

Sarah tentatively picked up the mug and took a small sip. It was piping hot. She grinned at Veronica. "Awesome."

Veronica's face split into a wide smile. "I knew it'd win you over."

The pair laughed and joked together for the rest of the afternoon, while Veronica performed small tricks of magic when no one else was looking.

A few hours later, Veronica dropped Sarah off at her flat with the promise that she'd make things fly for her tomorrow. Sarah, feeling a bit more like herself, practically skipped to her apartment and let herself in. She sang softly under her breath as she dropped her book bag in the entryway and danced into the kitchen. She grabbed a box of Fruit Loops from the cupboard and opened it, munching happily straight from the box.

"Sarah."

She yelped loudly and jolted; the Fruit Loops exploded from the box when she dropped it and scattered all over the floor. Clutching her heart, Sarah glared at the person standing in her kitchen.

"BILL!"

He had his hands up in a defensive gesture. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to scare you."

Trying to calm her furiously beating heart, Sarah walked past him to get her purse in the entryway. He didn't follow. When she returned to the kitchen, the cereal had disappeared. She set her bag on the counter and fixed him with a stare.

"I won't even bother asking how you got in here; rather I'll skip straight to the point: Why are you here?"

Bill's face twisted into a small grin. "What else? I came to talk to you about Charlie."

Sarah's shoulders slumped. "Bill…"

"Sarah, he misses you. He loves you," Bill pleaded, "Don't throw him out just because he was engaged to your best friend. I mean, he and Veronica were a pretty hot item at the time, but that's in the past now-,"

"Bill, shut up." Sarah said, mirth shining behind her eyes. Bill's mouth closed with a snap. "I didn't throw him out because he and Veronica were engaged."

Bill raised his eyebrows. "You didn't?"

Sarah laughed. "No! I… threw him out because I was upset. I felt like I had been lied to. But I know that he didn't lie to me. How could he? He didn't have _time _to. Hell, we'd only been married a few hours."

Bill fixed her with a hard stare. "So… you're not mad at him?" Sarah shook her head.

"No, not anymore. I planned on calling him when I got home to apologize, but you decided to do magic tricks," she said, smiling as he shuffled his feet.

"Ah. Well then, I guess I should leave you to it," Bill said awkwardly. He turned to exit the kitchen, but Sarah stopped him.

"Bill," she said, "You're a good brother for coming over here."

Bill smiled gently. "Anything for my sister-in-law."

"I didn't mean it that way."

"I know," Bill replied, "But I did."

Sarah was touched. She patted him on the shoulder and showed him to the door. "Unless of course you'd like to use the fireplace?" she teased. Bill laughed and shook his head, but quickly grew serious.

"Call him, Sarah."

Sarah nodded and crossed her heart. "I promise."

Bill nodded, and Sarah reached to open the door for him, but he had already disapparated. She let her hand drop and amusedly shook her head. Returning to the kitchen, Sarah fished her cell phone out of her purse. She set it on the counter and stared at it.

For some reason she felt butterflies welling up within her stomach. "Oh, stop it," she told her tummy, rubbing it. "He's your husband, for goodness sake."

The butterflies didn't ease. Sighing, Sarah grabbed her phone and dialed Charlie's number.

"Charlie? Hi, it's Sarah…."

* * *

Please review!

Also, I've gotten a twitter account! If you guys tweet, I'd love to hear from you. You can access my page through my profile. There is also more information on how to contact me there as well. Hope to hear from you soon!


	12. Chapter 12

Er… I've been bad, I know. I am having a breakthrough on a novel I've been writing- one that I intend to submit to an agent and everything. So, I've been a little… sidetracked. So, I'm sorry about the wait for this, but thank you for hanging in there.

**And for those of you waiting for the 'Molly-Finds-Out-They're-Married-Scenario', hang in there! It's coming, I promise!!! ;)**

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

P.S: Virtual cookies for MzNocturnal, who broke the 100 review mark.

* * *

Charlie practically bounded over to his cell phone the moment he heard it ring. It could only be Sarah- she was the only reason he even had the blasted thing. Picking the phone up, Charlie felt his heart beat fast against his chest as her name flashed up at him from the tiny screen. _What are you doing? Answer it!_

"Hello?" he said into the mouthpiece, remembering at the last minute that there was no need to shout.

"Charlie? Hi, it's Sarah…"

Charlie's stomach did a flip flop on itself as he heard her hesitant voice over the line. "Sarah- I am so sorry how things turned out, please can we talk this through? I didn't mean to lie to you or hurt you- I was going to tell you about Veronica- honestly, but, I mean, we'd only been married a few hours and…"

Sarah, despite her nervousness, cracked a smile at the sound of the rambling man on the other end of the line. He hadn't drawn a breath since he started.

"Charlie." One word and he stopped prattling. Sarah shuffled out of her kitchen and into her living room, gazing around its small interior as she contemplated her next words. "Charlie- I overreacted and I'm sorry," she said softly. "I've said this before, and I'll say it again: I love you and I don't know why…" her voice cracked slightly. Sarah cleared her throat. "Charlie, please come back and be my husband."

Charlie, in his flat in Romania, felt an overwhelming sense of joy at her words. Pausing only to grab his wand and coat, Charlie apparated away with determination set on his face. Sarah, oblivious, continued talking.

"I love you, and I'm sorry-," she was cut off by a knock at the door. "Charlie, hang on one sec." Sarah crossed her living room and torpidly opened her front door to see a joyful looking Charlie Weasley on her front stoop. Sarah's mouth dropped open. "Charlie, I gotta go. You're at the door," she said into her phone before snapping it shut.

"Charlie-,"

Before Sarah could utter another syllable, Charlie crossed the threshold and gathered her into his arms for a fierce kiss. Sarah dropped her phone in shock and held on for dear life. Charlie gently but persistently pushed her backward, kicking the door shut with his foot. His left hand crept up to intertwine itself at the base of her neck in her thick purple hair. The other clutched Sarah to him tightly, as if to never let her go again.

In his arms, Sarah felt herself melt against his strong frame. Her body was on fire as his lips captured her own, nibbling at her lower lip when they parted for air. Charlie broke away from her suddenly and Sarah felt a shock at the disconnection. She didn't want it to end. Charlie smiled his crooked little grin as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a very familiar ring.

"I believe this is yours," he said softly. Sarah smiled and reached for the bit of jewelry, but Charlie fisted his hand over the ring. Sarah looked at him curiously. Charlie, still grinning at her, knelt on one knee. Taking her hand ever so gently in his, Charlie slipped the wedding ring onto Sarah's left hand.

"This is good Charlie- we didn't get this part the first time around," Sarah said cheekily. Charlie laughed and stood quickly, pulling her in for another crushing kiss.

"We're not following the correct order, remember?" he replied slyly. Without warning, he grasped her around the legs and picked her up. Squawking in surprise, Sarah instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms about his neck. Clutching her tightly, Charlie strode purposefully towards the back of the apartment where he knew her bedroom to be. Sarah was giggling wildly the entire time, twirling and twisting her fingers in his red hair as he walked.

He had his coat on, and Sarah removed her fingers from his hair and slipped her right hand in between his coat and his clothing. Splaying her hand against his broad back, she felt around his frame for a certain object she knew to be there. He gave her a knowing look.

"I know what you're thinking," he warned playfully as they entered her bedroom, closing the door behind him. Sarah laughed as he dropped her on the bed, holding her arm up with his wand in hand. Charlie slipped out of his coat and threw it aside. "You think you're a clever pick pocket, but I've got your number!"

Sarah inched towards the pillowcase, brandishing his wand at him as she went. "Ah, but I've got your magic wand!" She gave it a bit of a wave. "Hocus Pocus."

Charlie snorted and crawled onto the bed after her, looking at her with a glint in his eye. "And what would _that _spell be, oh powerful one?"

"The spell to remove your shoes," she said dryly. "You're tracking dirt into my bed."

Charlie laughed and kicked his shoes of, still slowly following her over the bed with a predatory look upon his face. "Just the shoes then?" he breathed as he closed in. Sarah could feet her face growing hot as he grew nearer. She jabbed him in the chest with his wand.

"Alright, then, the rest of it too," she added as an afterthought. Charlie grabbed the wand and tugged it from her hands, dropping it carefully on the floor beside the bed. Sarah laughed and moved as if to escape his grasp, but Charlie was too quick, and had her trapped between his arms. Sarah reached over his head and pulled at the back of his t-shirt, bunching it up in her palms as she struggled to remove it from his body. Sitting upright, Charlie straddled her waist and finished the job, revealing a well muscled chest with a few shiny scars criss-crossing here and there. Sarah traced one with her finger.

"Are these from the dragons?" she asked breathlessly. She had seen the scars before, but had never asked about them. Charlie nodded, but Sarah was transfixed. "Will you show me them sometime?" she asked shyly. Charlie leant down and captured her lips in a swift kiss.

"I'll show you the dragons." Kiss. "The unicorns." Kiss. "The cauldrons and spell books." Kiss. "The broomsticks even."

Sarah broke away from the kiss. "Broomsticks? You fly on broomsticks for real?"

Charlie laughed and leaned away from her. "Really for real. I'll take you flying."

Sarah lay back and grinned up at the man before her. "I knew I made the right decision in marrying you." Charlie raised his eyebrow.

"You were drunk, Sarah."

She shrugged. "It was still a good decision." Sarah surprised Charlie by pulling him towards her and rolling over so she was now atop him. She grasped her shirt and pulled it up over her head, before unbuttoning her jeans. Charlie reached forward and helped slide them down her hips and completely off, leaving her only in her bra and panties. She grinned down at Charlie. Shyly, Sarah reached for his left hand. Fingering his silver wedding band, she brought his hand to her lips and gently kissed his palm. Charlie, his heart set beating by the gesture, curled his hand around hers. Sarah looked at him seriously.

"I love you, Mr. Weasley," she whispered. Charlie brought her head down for another kiss, but this time it was gentle and lingering. When they broke apart, he kept her near.

"I love you too, Mrs. Weasley," he replied softly. Grinning, Sarah dipped in for a kiss, relishing the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips. Charlie reached up and felt for the elastic holding her hair up. With a grin of triumph, Charlie pulled the hair tie free, watching as a curtain of purple fell down around them. They explored each other as if it was the first time; gentle sighs and moans filled the room as the minutes passed.

Outside the closed bedroom door sat Kirby, huffing irritably at his mistress, for it was dinnertime and he had yet to be fed.

* * *

Sarah awoke first. A glance at her alarm clock told her it was nearing seven-thirty in the morning. It took her a moment to realize why she felt so happy and warm. The reason for this contentment shifted slightly next to her, sprawled gracefully on his back. Sarah turned over and faced her husband, watching his chest rise and fall slowly with each breath. Sarah smiled and crawled closer to Charlie. Ever so gently, she clambered atop the sleeping man and rested her head against his chest.

Baadump.

Baadump.

Baadump.

Sarah closed her eyes as his heart beat a steady tattoo in her ear. It was a gentle song, a lullaby that almost sent her drifting back to sleep when a voice interrupted her peace.

"What are you doing?" Charlie asked dryly. Sarah, from her position on his chest, tilted her head upward so she could see him. He was looking down his nose with a bemused expression. She grinned stupidly.

"Checking for a heartbeat. I thought since you were magic it would sound different," she said matter-of-factly. "You know… all magically and stuff." Charlie gave her a wide smile.

"And?" he asked. Sarah wrinkled her nose.

"Nothing odd about it. I wouldn't worry," she replied. Charlie laughed, but this laugh quickly turned into a groan when he saw the time.

"Why are we up at this ungodly hour?" he moaned, brushing Sarah's hair back from her face as he whined.

"It's probably a good thing we're up so early- we have stuff to do!" Sarah exclaimed brightly, sitting up from Charlie's chest. She rolled off him and fell from the bed, landing on the ground with a thump. She lay on the floor as Charlie's face peered over the edge of the bed.

"Alright, love?" he asked. Sarah nodded, but made a pained expression as she pulled out his wand from underneath her back.

"Ouch. Oh, its okay, it's not broken!" she added brightly. She hopped to her feet and deposited the wand into Charlie's lap.

"What kind of stuff?" he asked curiously. Sarah gave him a pointed look.

"Well for one, we have to figure out what to tell our parents. That's something we need to find out _fast_."

Charlie groaned and let his head fall back into his pillow. He had momentarily forgotten about that. He still had no idea what his was going to tell his mother. Sarah moved to her dresser and pulled out some clothes.

"And we have to figure out our living situation, not to mention you have to show me more magic!" Sarah added, prancing about the room excitedly. Charlie grinned as she danced about, singing some song under her breath. Charlie waved his wand and muttered an incantation. Instantly, a cloud of golden butterflies burst from the tip of the wand and fluttered about Sarah. She gaped in amazement, both at the magic and the butterflies' beauty. Golden dust trailed behind the butterflies as they flitted to and fro, leaving gently shimmering trails on her nude skin.

She looked like an angel, Charlie decided, laughing as Sarah reached out to touch a butterfly and it exploded in a shower of red and gold fireworks.

"Oh, Charlie they're beautiful!" she exclaimed as the last of the butterflies faded. Charlie slipped from bed and planted a kiss on her shoulder.

"You're beautiful," he murmured softly. Sarah blushed but tilted her head back for a more satisfying kiss.

"That was really cheesy," she said with a grin. Charlie waggled his eyebrows.

"Really? I thought it was quite good."

An hour later the couple had cleaned themselves up a bit and had some breakfast (and fed the rather annoyed Kirby), and were leaving Sarah's apartment.

"Where are we going?" Sarah asked curiously. Charlie gave her a mysterious look.

"It's a surprise."

They took the tube to downtown London, where Charlie determinedly steered her through the streets. It was a freezing Saturday morning, so the streets weren't too crowded. Just when Sarah was beginning to think Charlie had gotten them lost, he stopped abruptly. Sarah ran into the back of him, and he reached out a hand to steady her.

"Where are we?" she asked slowly. Charlie turned her so she faced an alley between two buildings.

"Hold still. This won't hurt, I promise," he said softly. Sarah felt her eyes widen as he pulled his wand out.

"Charlie, what on earth-," she hissed as he waved his wand silently. Instantly Sarah felt an odd tingling sensation go throughout her body. It started in her toes and seemed to travel upwards. She swore she could feel the tips of her hair tingling even. She blinked a couple times before turning on Charlie. "What did you just do?" she asked cautiously, almost afraid to know. Charlie smiled, but pointed wordlessly to the alley.

Sarah's breath caught in her throat. No longer was it an alley between two shops. A building had sprung from the ground! It was a grubby looking place, with a crooked sign that said 'The Leaky Cauldron'. Sarah looked about her and Charlie to see if anyone else on the street was in shock. However, no one else on the street had seemed to notice at all! In fact, when Sarah looked closer, she saw that their eyes slid right over the Leaky Cauldron and on to the next shop. It was if they couldn't see… Sarah turned to Charlie.

"You made it so I can see it, didn't you?"

Charlie nodded. "Often times we place enchantments on places that we wish to hide from muggles, but have no place to physically hide it without magic. I simply placed a spell upon you that overrides the enchantment upon the Leaky Cauldron. You will also be able to see everything else muggles can't."

Sarah couldn't believe her ears. If she hadn't seen the building appear right before her eyes, she would have assumed she was being pranked somehow. But the wooden siding of the Leaky Cauldron was so real looking, and the sound of the sign creaking wasn't her imagination. She turned to Charlie.

"Magic's a lot more powerful than I realize, huh?" she said, her voice small. Charlie gently took her hand.

"Many wizards don't even realize how powerful magic truly is," he replied. He pulled her towards the pub before them and they entered hand in hand, Sarah looking about herself curiously.

"Well, well- if it isn't Charlie Weasley," a gruff voice called out. Charlie smiled at Tom, the owner of the voice, and lead Sarah to the bar. The barkeep was smirking at Charlie as he wiped down the bar top.

"Sarah, this is Tom, Tom meet Sarah," Charlie said, a touch of pride in his voice. Tom raised his eyebrow at Sarah's name.

"Nice to meet you," Sarah said politely, extending her hand for him to shake. Tom grinned slightly as he grasped Sarah's hand.

"Sarah, eh?" Tom said, giving Charlie a sly look. Before the bartender could reveal any embarrassing tidbits, Charlie wrapped up the introductions and hurried Sarah out the back door. Sarah looked about herself in confusion. There was just a brick wall and some trash bins.

"Uh, Charlie…" she trailed off. Charlie just waved his hand at her and began tapping the bricks with his wand. Without warning, the wall shifted and warped upon itself before a great yawning archway appeared. Sarah's mouth dropped open. It was unbelievable- it couldn't be real! And yet…

Beyond the doorway was an amazing sight: brightly colored shops lined the street for as far as the eye could see. While the streets of London had been slow in the morning hour, there were people hustling and bustling down this street. They had on the most peculiar outfits; brightly colored cloaks and robes swirled this way and that as the wearers shopped around. A pointy hat there, a crystal walking stick there- Sarah did a double take as a man walked across the street with a large bird perched atop his head.

"This," Charlie declared, "is Diagon Alley." He gave Sarah a little nudge into the street. She numbly walked forward, her eyes drinking in the sights before her. Not only was the alley itself a picture of colorful chaos, but the air too was filled with bedlam. Owls swooped to and fro, bright lights flashed- banners advertising their shop furled and unfurled as a passerby stopped to look in their window.

"Oh…" Sarah breathed, greedily taking in the sights before her. "Charlie, it's wonderful!" She stepped further into the alleyway, her mouth hanging open in astonishment. Charlie was two steps behind her, quietly observing his wife's look of wonder. Sarah turned to him after a moment, just in time to see the brick archway shrink closed. "This is amazing," she said with a grin. Charlie smiled and closed the distance between them.

"I knew you'd like it!" he exclaimed happily, drawing her further into the throng of people. "Look- there's the apothecary where we get ingredients for potions; the cauldron shop is that one right there- oh! And there's Eeylops Owl Emporium!" Charlie recited the shops faster than Sarah could whip her head around to follow his pointing finger.

"What _is_ it with the owls," Sarah asked as they passed the owl shop. "I mean, they're everywhere!" As if to illustrate her point, a great tawny owl swooped over their heads and into a nearby stationary store.

"It's one of the ways we use to communicate," Charlie replied. "They're like… carrier pigeons, only much more reliable. And better behaved."

"That is so cool."

"You want one?" Charlie asked, looking at Sarah sideways. She looked alarmed at the thought.

"Er, well, they seem very nice, but I don't think Kirby would react too well if I brought home a bird of prey. He is a rodent, you know," she reminded him gently.

"Ah. Right."

Charlie spent the next hour pulling Sarah in and out of all the various shops of Diagon Alley. Her head was spinning from all of the sights! There were owls, yes, but so much more! Magic wands, books that came alive and read to you, solid gold cauldrons, pre-bottled magic potions, wizarding games, sweet shops and more! Her favorite place was Flourish and Blotts, the book store that had columns and columns of books that she was absolutely _dying_ to pry open. Even if she couldn't actually do the magic, it was still fascinating to read about. Her least favorite spot was the Apothecary, due to the unsettling amount of eyeballs that were pickled in jars along the walls.

It was easy to see that Charlie's favorite was Quality Quidditch Supplies. His eyes simply sparkled when he laid eyes upon the broomstick in the window. He began speaking enthusiastically with the salesman about it. Sarah thought it was funny- kind of like muggle men and cars.

_Some things don't change, _she mused to herself as she watched Charlie turn the broomstick over in his hands with a look of pure wonder upon his face. Sarah stood a few feet away, examining a set of singing mirrors. In the mirror, she caught sight of something they hadn't seen before. Turning, she moved easily through the crowd towards a side street. An old sign indicated it was called 'Knockturn Alley'. Sarah peered down the alley. It was poorly lit and dirty, but she could see some shops down the way.

Without a second thought, Sarah trotted down the steps of the alley, leaving Charlie and the bright surface streets behind.


	13. Chapter 13

I apologize, once again for the long wait. However, I have been using this time to fully map out the paths Sarah and Charlie will be journeying down, and I have three more chapters finished at this point. I will be posting them approximately one week apart. Thank you to those who have been considerate and sticking with me during these long gaps between updates.

**Important Note: **I have been systematically going through the previous chapters posted and making small changes. Nothing I have changed will affect the story in any way; rather it will further the aesthetic experience of the story. Changes will include things such as grammar and typos, but slightly more significant things such as the descriptions of places, people, and environment. Once again, NOTHING I have changed will affect your understanding of later chapters. It will, however, make for an easier and more enjoyable read should you decide to revisit earlier chapters.

Thanks for the reviews!

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Chapter 13 Publish Date: Friday, April 2nd, 11:15 pm.  
**

* * *

Sarah hummed quietly to herself as she skipped down the steps of Knockturn Alley. Up ahead she could see the glass windows of more shops, the closest one being called 'Borgin and Burkes'. Deciding that was where she would start her investigation, Sarah ventured further from the bright lights of Diagon Alley and deeper into the dark recesses of Knockturn. The street was oddly deserted, nothing like the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley.

As she approached Borgin and Burkes, she noticed that the windows were boarded up. The sign hung crookedly from its post and cobwebs covered every visible crevice. Sarah peered further down the street and saw the other shops were the same.

"Well, that was a bust," Sarah muttered to herself disappointedly. She turned on her heel and trotted back towards Diagon Alley. Suddenly, out of her peripheral vision, Sarah caught the outline of a form darting about in the shadows. She slowed and looked over her shoulder. Nothing was there. Sarah shivered and quickened her pace. She breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the steps that ascended to the surface streets. However, as her foot cleared the first step, a hand shot from the shadows and clutched her wool coat.

Sarah shrieked and stumbled backwards into the alley, banging her head hard against the grimy stone of the walls. The hand ventured into the light further, followed by an arm that was attached to an old woman whose face was mottled with green and black flesh. Sarah felt her stomach revolt, but she did her best not to let her disgust show upon her face. She attempted to smile at the woman, but it came out as a sort of grimace. The woman smiled back, but her teeth were black and rotted. It did little to comfort Sarah's wildly beating heart.

"Hello sweetie," the woman hissed lowly. Sarah felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise slightly. She tried to put on a brave face.

"Er, hello," she replied politely. She turned to go, but the woman's hand shot out again and this time the woman had her fingers around Sarah's wrist. Sarah tried to pull herself free, but the woman's grip was surprisingly strong.

"I'm hurt, love! Where you off to in such a hurry?" the woman cackled, slowly dragging Sarah towards her. Sarah struggled to wrench her arm from the woman's iron-like grasp, but to no avail. Her heart began to beat rapidly as she realized that she was all alone with some madwoman.

"T-To meet a friend," Sarah lied, hoping the woman would leave her alone. The woman wrinkled her nose.

"That friend of yours might have to wait! I'm awfully hungry, pet, and you just look so _scrumptious_," the woman said foully, licking her dry lips with a smack. Sarah felt lightheaded. She was beginning to regret leaving Charlie's side. She struggled against the woman.

"Well, thank you, but I must be going," she said, trying to calm the rising hysterics within her. The woman looked put out.

"Oh, spoilsport! At least let me have _one_ bite," she cackled. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she pulled Sarah's arm upward, towards her mouth and inhaled deeply. The woman's eyes rolled into the back of her head with pleasure. Sarah really began to panic then, and continued to pull away as hard as she could, but froze when the woman bared her teeth.

Sarah screamed.

Back on the surface streets, Charlie ran his hands appreciatively over the new Quick Trick 800 model broom. It wasn't a broom for Quidditch- rather aerial stunts and the like- but it still was an amazing piece of work. He turned to show the broom to his wife. After all, he had promised to take her flying. It might do well to get Sarah acquainted with the broom first.

"Hey Sarah, come check this out," he called as he turned. Charlie furrowed his brow when he didn't see her immediately. He didn't panic though; it was a busy day at Diagon Alley. Maybe she was just mixed in with the crowd. "Sarah?" No sign of her. Charlie felt uneasy, though he didn't particularly know why. He turned and thanked the salesman and deposited the broom back into his hands before taking off in the direction he had last seen her. She had really liked Flourish and Blott's- maybe she went back there?

He walked to the book store, in the opposite direction of Knockturn Alley, unaware of what he was leaving behind.

Back in the alley, Sarah moaned in fright as the old woman's teeth inched closer to the flesh of her arm. "Let go!" she shrieked, banging her fist against her assailant's chest. The woman had just bit down on Sarah's arm, when a shout came from somewhere near the entrance to the alley.

"OI! Find your meal elsewhere!"

Suddenly, there was a blast of bright light that whooshed right past Sarah's ear. She didn't know what it did, but the old woman released her and retreated into the shadows with a high pitched squeal. Sarah sank to the grimy cobblestones in shock, clutching her bitten arm to her. She was dimly aware of a form kneeling next to her, a second shadowy figure standing a few feet behind the first.

"Hey, you alright, miss?" a kind voice asked. "Here, let me take a look at that arm."

Sarah looked down at her right arm that was currently pressed tightly against her chest. She extended it slowly to the stranger, finally looking up to see his face.

"I like your hair," she said softly. The man grinned and looked back over his shoulder to his companion. Sarah followed his gaze. "Ha! I like yours too," she added. The man shuffled closer to the pair on the ground and ran some fingers through his orange hair.

"Eh, it grows on you, I guess," he replied, "I'm Fred, by the way. That's my brother George."

Sarah looked at the man who was currently tending to her arm. "Hey! You're twins!"

"Yeah, not by choice though," George said. He pushed the sleeve of Sarah's shirt up her arm to reveal her wound. The old woman hadn't torn any flesh from her arm, but there were several deep crescent shapes indented into the skin of her forearm. The sight of it was enough to pull Sarah from her temporary state of shock. The smile fell from her face, and she felt nauseous.

"What… what was that?" she asked faintly, tears beginning to appear at the corner of her eyes. Fred crouched down next to his brother to examine the wound.

"Ah, that was a hag," he replied, looking at her quizzically. "What, they don't have hags in America?"

"How did you know…?" Sarah trailed off when she remembered her telltale accent. "Er, maybe? I don't know." Fred exchanged a wary glance with his brother.

"What was your name?" he asked.

"Er, Sarah Adams," Sarah replied distractedly as George pulled out his wand. With her head still spinning from the events that just occurred, she forgot to say her new last name. She was trying very hard not to hyperventilate. George muttered a few words under his breath and bandages shot from the wand, instantly wrapping and twisting about the injury on her arm. Sarah felt her mouth open in wonder. Magic. Awesome. Fred saw her amazement and grew even more suspicious.

"Sarah, why didn't you use your wand to fend off the hag?" he asked.

"Cause I don't have a wand," Sarah replied thoughtlessly. George looked up sharply.

"So… you're a squib?"

Sarah crinkled her nose at the unfamiliar word. "Squib? I thought it was muggle?"

Both twins' eyes widened. "Muggle? You're a muggle?" George said, standing suddenly. Sarah stood slowly as well. The twins gripped their wands and Sarah suddenly remembered Veronica telling her about… what was it? Modifying memories? _"…It is against Ministry law for muggles to know about magic- with a few exceptions of course."_

Oops. No wonder the twins seemed a little on edge. Sarah raised her hands up in a non threatening gesture. "Er… my husband is a wizard," she said carefully. "That's how I got here, to Diagon Alley."

Fred hesitated, but lessened his grip on his wand. George followed suit and gave Sarah an unguarded smile.

"Ah, sorry about that," he said, stowing his wand in his back pocket. "Muggles just aren't allowed to know about magic, so…" he trailed off and shrugged his shoulders apologetically. Sarah gave a shaky laugh.

"SARAH!" The trio jumped as a loud shout echoed off the walls of Knockturn Alley. Sarah turned and felt her heart soar as she saw a familiar form taking the stone steps two at a time.

Charlie had grown frantic in the past ten minutes, searching the shops and streets of Diagon Alley fervently. He had been passing by Knockturn alley, when a familiar laugh wafted towards him. When he saw Sarah, he felt a sense of relief like he had never known before. He bounded down the steps towards her and gathered her tightly in his arms.

"Charlie!" Sarah said happily as she received his embrace. She missed the astounded looks on the twins' face, only having eyes for her husband at this point. Charlie pulled away but kept his hands firmly planted on Sarah's shoulders.

"Merlin, Sarah!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing down here?"

"There were some shops that we hadn't seen, and - ,"

"Sarah, don't _ever_ come down here again," Charlie interrupted exasperatedly. "It is _very_ dangerous down here, especially for a muggle." Sarah snorted.

"You're telling me. I didn't get two steps into this place before a hag-,"

"A HAG?!" Charlie bellowed.

"Charlie, calm down!" Sarah said, "She only got a little bite." At this, Charlie looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Sarah showed him her bandaged forearm. "See? A little bite."

Charlie, trying to calm his furiously beating heart, held her arm and gently ran his fingers down the bandages. Tiny spots of blood had seeped through, but were already dry.

"A little bite?" he repeated faintly. Sarah nodded vigorously.

"Fred and George here saved me!"

At this, Charlie's tunnel vision finally cleared and he turned his attention to the twins standing off to one side, who were watching the display with a mix of amusement and confusion.

"Fred? George?" Charlie asked, releasing Sarah and stepping closer to his brothers. "What are you doing down here?"

"We weren't doing anything down here," Fred replied defensively, "We were walking past the alley entrance when we heard Sarah scream."

Sarah sidled up next to Charlie.

"You know the twins?" she asked curiously. George sniggered. Charlie threw him a dirty look.

"Er, Sarah. George and Fred are my brothers," he replied. Sarah's eyes grew wide.

"Oh!" After a beat, she bounded over to Fred. She stuck out her hand, which he shook emphatically. "Nice to meet you!" She repeated the action with George.

"So… this is your husband?" Fred asked. Sarah nodded.

"Ah, what…?" George began, but Charlie stopped him.

"It's a long story," he said, "One that probably needs to be told in a different environment." He glanced at Sarah meaningfully, and the twins got the hint. With Sarah's hand firmly grasped in his own, Charlie and his brothers led the way out of Knockturn Alley and back into the light of the surface streets. They decided to stop in at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.

"Here, Sarah," Charlie said, dipping into his pocket for some money. "Go grab something. You look a little pale." He quickly explained the money to Sarah and sent her on her way before joining his brothers. While it was a cold wintery day, Florean kept his patio heated magically. Charlie and the twins seated themselves on the patio. The twins looked at him expectantly.

"So…" Fred said, grinning when Charlie shot him an annoyed look. "You got married, mate?"

Charlie nodded. "You know the girl who Raltred attacked a few weeks back?"

George looked surprised. "That's her? I thought you said she had pink hair?" Charlie shrugged.

"Eh, she likes to change it. Anyway, I met her again in Romania, where she was visiting for a class assignment, or something…" As Charlie regaled the tale, both Fred and George noticed a change in their elder siblings' demeanor. Instead of the serious workaholic, they were beginning to see a brighter, more lighthearted Charlie, like he used to be. "Er, don't mention the Raltred incident to Sarah," Charlie said awkwardly. "I had to modify her memory that night… I still haven't told her about it." The twins swore they wouldn't, and Charlie continued on.

Sarah returned just as Charlie was wrapping up his story, her ice cream cone piled high with various flavors. Charlie gave her an amused smile.

"I couldn't decide what flavors to get!" Sarah exclaimed as she slid into the patio chair next to Charlie. "I've never seen so many!" She bit into the top portion of her treat and immediately made a disgusted face. Charlie chuckled.

"What kind did you get?" George asked with a knowing grin on his face.

"Well, it said 'earwax', but I just thought it was called that because it was yellow…" Sarah said. The men around her burst into laughter. Sarah glared at them as she wiped her tongue on a napkin in an attempt to get the taste out of her mouth. Charlie pointed his wand at the yellow scoop of ice cream and it vanished. Underneath was a light green scoop.

"What kind is that?" Fred asked. Sarah looked at it warily.

"I can't remember," she replied. She tasted it tentatively and smiled widely. "It's cucumber," she gave it another lick. "It's pretty good, actually." She settled back into her chair with a content look upon her face.

"So, Sarah," George said, "Charlie here says you've met Bill too." Sarah nodded.

"He's the only one besides you two," she replied.

"We're trying to figure out how to tell mum," Charlie added darkly. The twins shot Charlie a sympathetic glance.

"Sarah, you're bleeding," Fred said suddenly, motioning towards her arm. Sarah peered over her ice cream cone and examined the bandage. Sure enough, fresh blood had started seeping through the bandages.

"It must have been deeper than I thought," George said sheepishly. "Sorry- healing has never been my strongest area…"

"No, don't worry about it," Sarah replied, rushing to set him at ease. "If it weren't for you, that hag might have gotten a bigger piece of me." Charlie took hold of her arm and unwrapped the bandages to take a closer look at the injury. Sarah shivered upon seeing it again. "Why did she bite me?"

Charlie pointed his wand at the wound. "Episkey." Sarah felt her arm grow very hot and then very cool. Before her eyes, the crescent marks faded and the skin healed. She held her arm up closer to her eyes. Not even a scar.

"She bit you because she's a hag," Charlie said. "That's what they do." Sarah looked confused.

"But _why_ do they do that?" She pressed.

"Hags eat the flesh of others," Fred supplied. "Mostly children, but if they're hungry enough they'll go for adults."

Sarah looked at him, positively horrified. "She was going to _eat_ me?" She began to hyperventilate. Charlie hugged her gently.

"Sarah, relax. It's okay now," he said in a calming voice. Over Sarah's shoulder, he glared at Fred, who shrugged apologetically. George piped up at this point.

"Hey! Had you guys made it to our shop at all?"

Sarah looked at him curiously. "You have a shop here?"

"Of course! You're looking at the famous creators of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!" Fred announced pompously, puffing his chest out proudly. Sarah gave him a blank look, and he deflated immediately.

"You've never heard of it?" He asked, crestfallen. Charlie laughed.

She's a muggle, remember?"

At this, the twins looked a little less disconsolate. "Well, then, all is forgiven," Fred said brightly, standing quickly. He marched around the table to where Sarah sat and extended his arm gallantly. "Shall we, milady?" Sarah gave Charlie a brief glance, who rolled his eyes and nodded. With ice cream in her left hand and Fred on her right, the pair set off towards the joke shop, Charlie and George following closely behind.

The next hour was an experience Sarah would remember for the rest of her life. The twins owned a joke shop, as it were, and their inventory was phenomenal. The whole store was a jam-packed array of colorful gadgets, swooping lights, whizzing objects, piercing noises, and the occasional odd smell. Wizarding adults and children alike packed the shop, laughing with each other at each little treasure they found. Fred and George took it upon themselves to give Sarah the V.I.P treatment, taking her on a personal tour throughout the store. Fred and Sarah seemed to take a quick liking to each other, and the pair raced up and down the store aisles like children.

"Fred! What does this do?" Sarah asked excitedly, pointing to a box labeled 'Wildfire Whiz-Bangs'. Fred gave a particularly wide grin and took a sample product off the shelf. It looked like a rocket, or a firework.

"Now these," he said devilishly, "Will rock your world." With a wave of his wand, the firework exploded into the air, showering them with sparks and glitter. It darted above the heads of the patrons and spiraled and zoomed about. Fred lit a second rocket and it shot into the air after its partner. The two fireworks collided in midair, resulting a loud BOOM that shook the whole store. The sparks grew brighter and the shapes they created became more intricate. Everyone in the store paused to look at the beautiful display, their faces reflecting the bright colors caused by the fireworks. After a few more moments of wild colors and noises, the fireworks let off a bright, shimmering finale.

The whole store applauded, and there was a rush as patrons scrambled to get to the 'Wildfire Whiz-Bangs' display. Fred looked at Sarah expectantly, who clapped daintily in response.

"That was so cool," Sarah breathed. Fred, his ego restored, puffed his chest back out.

"Told ya," he replied.

Elsewhere, Charlie and George were strolling down the aisles, chatting casually.

"She seems like a really cool girl, but marriage?" George asked dubiously. "I mean, I never really knew you wanted to get married. Yeah, Bill was always the hot bachelor and all, but you never even talked about marriage."

Charlie shrugged. "I know, mate. I mean, yes we were drunk, but still. It _feels _right, you know?"

George shook his head. "No, I don't know. But I guess I will take your word for it." Charlie looked at him, surprised.

"What about you and Angelina? You guys are pretty serious."

George shrugged. "Yeah, and I have a feeling that we'll be together a really long time. It's just, neither of us feels the need to get married. Angelina actually laughed when I brought the idea up to her."

Charlie was quiet. George clapped his hand onto his older brother's shoulder. "Charlie, Sarah seems great. I've just never understood marriage. I'm not trying to break you guys up, or anything. I'm just trying to understand."

A loud shout echoed from above and Charlie and George looked up just in time to duck as a large flying object swept over them. As Charlie recovered, he could see that it was Fred and Sarah riding atop a large fluffy cloud. As they neared the ground, the cloud disappeared and the two toppled gently back to earth. Sarah bounced to her feet and came running to Charlie.

"This. Place. Is. AWESOME!" Sarah said happily, bouncing up and down with excitement. Fred came up beside her and gave Charlie a sheepish grin.

"_She _jumped on the cloud. I only just managed to climb on it before it took off with her," he replied carefully. Charlie laughed and shook his head.

"You've got to be careful, Sarah," he said, a large grin on his face. He looked to Fred and George. "I think we better get out of here, before she gets into real trouble. Thanks for showing her around."

Fred and George nodded happily and both gave Sarah big hugs. As they were leaving, Fred bounded after them with a large bag.

"Hey! Sarah, don't forget these!" he thrust the bag into her hands. Curiously, Sarah peered into it and was surprised to see Fred had loaded her up with a bunch of different merchandise from around the store. "These don't require a wand to use, so you should be able to work them just fine," Fred said matter-of-factly. Sarah, touched by the gesture, gave Fred a big hug. Fred- well, both the twins- were as tall as Charlie, and she only came up to the middle of their chest. Fred wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave a friendly squeeze.

They left the store to a setting sun and a very cold evening. On the way to Sarah's apartment, Charlie listened amusedly as his wife went on and on about everything she had seen that day. As she talked animatedly, Charlie looked at her profile and felt his heart swell.

"And then that flying CLOUD! Wasn't it amazing? Fred said we shouldn't try it out but I said we should and he said no because you wouldn't like it so I did it anyway and it was awesome!" Sarah chattered in one breath as Charlie opened the door to the apartment. Unable to resist this time, he laughed aloud at her excitement. Sarah stopped mid breath, but her eyes were still shining. She slid out of her shoes and danced over to the sofa, where she collapsed tiredly.

"You must be tired of hearing about this," she said with a grin. "You've grown up with it your whole life." Charlie closed the front door and followed threw himself on the loveseat beside her.

"Actually, it's surprisingly refreshing," he said. Sarah cocked her head to the side in confusion. Charlie elaborated, "Yes, I have grown up with it my whole life and therefore I take a lot of it for granted. It's refreshing to see someone who is amazed by it all." He leaned in and gave her a kiss. His lips had barely touched hers when a loud growling noise emitted from her stomach. Sarah blushed as Charlie pulled back and gave her stomach an apprehensive look.

"Hungry?" he asked. Sarah nodded. Charlie stood and clapped his hands together. "Well then, shall we make our way to the kitchen?" He couldn't cook at all, but she didn't know that. He was sure the two of them could whip something up.

"Oh, Charlie, I won't make you cook after all you did today," Sarah exclaimed, rising from the couch. She pushed him down to the sofa gently. "I'll take care of things."

Charlie looked slightly confused as Sarah danced into the kitchen. "I thought you said you couldn't cook?"

"I can't!" Sarah said, returning. She plopped down beside him and displayed an impressive array of take-out menus. "But I can order!"

Charlie laughed and the pair decided on Chinese food. Charlie let Sarah do the ordering, and he set about investigating the items Fred and George had gifted her. He was slightly worried they had given her something potentially dangerous, but he needn't have feared. The twins had given her rather benign gifts that were more pretty and showy than anything else. Sarah, done with ordering the food, returned to the living room and sifted through all the items.

The pair spent the rest of the night laughing and eating and playing with all the gifts. The room was filled with evidence of magic, such as large pink bubbles that refused to pop, and shooting stars that zoomed around the room. However, exhausted from the day and the excitement, both Sarah and Charlie fell asleep amid all the wrappers and gifts still unopened. Above them, a whole miniature solar system glowed in the darkness, propelled by magic around a dimming sun. The Milky Way washed over them comfortingly, lulling them deeper into their slumber.

* * *

As I said earlier, I have two more chapters finished, which will each be posted within the next two weeks. So updates will be a little more regular. I've also already began on a third chapter, so hopefully that will be finished soon too.

Also, as we delve deeper into the wizarding world, Sarah will come across more and more characters that died in the series. This story was published before I read the sixth and seventh book, so I am continuing off of my own version of how the war went. So… basically if someone is alive who is supposed to be dead- that's why.

Thanks for reading! Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

Thank you for the reviews!

**Shnitzel: **Thank you for the review! Now, for your questions: Fred was with Angelina for a time, but after he died, Angelina married George. Now, as I have kept Fred and various others alive, I probably should have had Angelina remain with Fred. However, I had a hard time ignoring the fact that eventually, in canon, Angelina developed a romance with George. I decided to assume that, for the sake of this story, Fred and Angelina simply didn't work out, and George found a romantic connection between him and Angelina. In hindsight, this might not have been the wisest of decisions on my part- but what's done is done. As for the Lupins, they will definitely be in this story. I hope I cleared things up a tiny bit!**  
**

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.  
**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Chapter 14 Publish Date: Friday, April 9th, 10:30 pm**

**

* * *

**

"Morning Mum!" Fred said as he strolled through the front door of the Burrow. Though he and George lived in a flat above the shop, the twins weren't above getting a homemade breakfast from their mother every now and then. Molly stood at the head of the table, laying a plate down for Arthur. She beamed at her son, dusting her hands off on her apron as she approached him.

"Fred! Oh, it's been too long!" Molly said, kissing Fred on both cheeks. Fred, easily dwarfing his mother, kissed her back and laughed.

"I saw you last week, mum!" he replied. Molly, however, was looking past him at her other son currently ducking through the doorway.

"George! Lovely to see you dear," she exclaimed, brushing past Fred. The twins were quickly set places at the table, which was fairly roomy. Only Molly, Arthur, Bill, and Fleur were at breakfast this morning. Bill greeted his brothers with a twisted grin. Breakfast was a cheerful affair, with much laughter and conversation.

Afterward, everyone gathered in the living room for tea. Fleur and Molly were wrapped up obscure wedding details, so Arthur, Bill, Fred, and George caught up with each other. It wasn't long, however, when talk turned business.

"Yeah, I'm getting more and more calls from Gringotts," Bill said, a crooked smile on his face. "They want me to go back into the field. I think I might take 'em up on their offer after the wedding."

"What about your work with the Order?" Fred asked, surprised. "I thought you were helping Shacklebolt get the Order to be a permanent fixture in the Ministry?"

Bill shrugged. "It's been eight months since the War. The Order's pretty much completely moved into the Minsistry workings." Arthur nodded at this.

"Yes, everyone's adjusting to the new department quite well. But let's not talk about the Order- it reminds me too much of the War." Arthur turned to the twins. "How is the shop?"

Fred and George, always enthusiastic about the company, dove into an animated discussion about the booming business. Perhaps Fred was feeling a little too relaxed from his mother's cooking, or he had forgotten the promise he had made only two days before, but he found himself spewing forth more than he meant.

"…Charlie was there just a few days ago, showing Sarah around," Fred rambled. Bill's head shot up and George's eyes widened in panic, but it was too late. Though Molly was deep in discussion with Fleur, she had a keen ear for anything that concerned a girl and one of her boys. She perked up and diverted her attention to Fred, who now had a look of horror slowly dawning upon his face.

"Did you just say Charlie was with a girl?" Molly asked curiously, though she full well knew the answer. "Sarah, is that her name?"

Bill glared at Fred, as if to say 'nice going, idiot'. Fred swallowed hard and darted his eyes from George to Bill. None were willing to help him out. Fred scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Erm, no?" he replied weakly. Molly saw right through him.

"Has Charlie got a girlfriend?" she squealed. Arthur sighed and leaned back in his chair, deciding to simply sip on his tea and watch the spectacle unfold.

"Not exactly a girlfriend," George muttered.

"You met her too, George?" Molly asked happily. "Oh, what's she like? Is she just lovely?" She barraged the twins with questions, leaving no space between for them to answer. As Molly continued her questions, she turned from excitement to worry. "Is he hiding her because he thinks I won't approve? Well, what kind of girl is he dating if I won't approve of her?"

Before she wrapped herself up too much in a paranoid frenzy, Bill finally piped up. "Mum- relax! Just talk to Charlie about it."

Molly looked abashed. "Oh, I just couldn't. I wouldn't want to pry."

Everyone looked pointedly away for fear of bursting into laughter should they meet each other's eyes.

* * *

Charlie sighed as he let himself in to his Romanian flat. He and Sarah had spent Sunday together, just lounging about and being together, but with Monday came reality. It had been hard to leave Sarah this morning, but she had to go to class and he needed to get back to work. Work had been hell. It was migration season- when dragons traveled to sacred mating grounds. Unfortunately, the dragons often flew through airspace easily visible to humans. Muggle security and obliviation was a priority during migration season.

Charlie shuffled to his bedroom, where he pulled a knapsack out from his closet. He was gathering some clothes and toiletries to bring to Sarah's house. The couple had decided the day before to start moving in together. Charlie was finding that he was excited to share a space with Sarah. While he had always liked having his own house- a bachelor pad of sorts- Charlie found that it was getting harder to be away from Sarah.

After filling his duffel bag with clothes and some miscellaneous items, Charlie made his way back into his living room. He hadn't made it two steps into the room before his fireplace flared to life with green flames. From his hearth spilled out a familiar red haired form.

"Fred!" Charlie said in surprise. He clapped his brother hard on the back, a cloud of ash rising from his clothing. "I was just about to go back to London. What brings you here, mate?"

Fred wore an odd expression upon his face. It was the expression he wore when he had done something terribly wrong. The smile dropped from Charlie's lips.

"Fred?"

Fred crossed the living room and sank to the sofa. He grimaced. "Charlie, I did something kind of bad- but I want you to know it was a complete and total accident." Charlie nodded his head slowly.

"Er, okay. What is it?"

Fred bit his lower lip. Charlie laughed at his brother's hesitation. "C'mon, Fred!" he exclaimed, "It can't be that bad. Spill."

"I might have accidentally let slip you had a girlfriend," Fred blurted.

There was a beat of silence. Then,

"You did WHAT?" Charlie bellowed. His tone wasn't in anger- rather it was panic; a deep seated panic that shot through his entire being. Fred grimaced.

"Honest, mate, it was an accident. I told her about your visit to the shop and accidentally mentioned Sarah's name," Fred said earnestly. Charlie sank into his armchair, dropping his duffel bag to the ground.

"Oh, this is not good," he mumbled to himself.

"She doesn't know you're married," Fred added quickly. "And honestly, she was the one that used the word 'girlfriend'. You know how she is."

Charlie blew out a stream of air. Okay, this wasn't an entirely bad thing. He and Sarah had been trying to come up with a way to tell his mum- maybe this was just the thing they needed. He looked at Fred. "Thanks for telling me," he said slowly. "I think this is going to be okay."

Fred shook his head. "That's not all," he said. Charlie paused. It wasn't? What else could Fred have done? "As soon as mum learned you had a girlfriend, she started planning a Dinner." Charlie paled.

"A Dinner?" he asked, strained. Fred nodded sympathetically.

"Yep. A Dinner."

Normally a dinner at the Burrow was a rather pleasing and joyous affair. However, when concerning Molly Weasley, there were dinners and then there were Dinners. The latter were usually more convoluted and had many, many guests present. Molly threw one every time one of her sons brought home a girl for the first time, with the exception of maybe Hermione and Ron.

"When?" Charlie asked. Fred shrugged.

"I had breakfast with her this morning- that's when she found out," he replied. "I bet she'll contact you sometime soon though. She was positively flapping when I left her."

As if by cue, the fireplace roared to life. Charlie knelt at the hearth as Molly's head floated into view.

"Oh, Charlie, I'm glad to have caught you!" Molly said happily. She continued on before Charlie could mutter a reply, "So I've heard from a very reliable source that you've found yourself a girlfriend!"

Charlie sighed. "Yes, mum."

Molly squealed happily. "Oh, this is wonderful news! I've arranged a little dinner- you know, nothing big-,"

"Yeah, right," Fred snorted, out of view of his mother.

"- and I was hoping you could bring her to meet the family!"

Charlie looked at his mother's floating, fiery head and sighed. It was now or never. "Sure, mum, that'd be great," he replied, ignoring Fred's surprised expression. His mother grinned widely.

"That's my boy. It'll be tomorrow night, around seven o'clock. Be sharp!"

Molly's head disappeared with a pop, and the roaring fire vanished. Fred stood and crossed the room to his brother. He clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, on the bright side, at least you can get the hard part over with!" he said helpfully. Charlie gave him a pointed look. Fred held up his hands. "Right. Got it- leaving now." Fred threw a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace and was gone in a whirl of flames.

Charlie shook his head at his family. They were absolutely barking mad. He bent and retrieved his bag, chucking slightly to himself. Sarah didn't know what she was in for.

* * *

Sarah fumbled for her keys as she struggled to balance her schoolbooks and groceries. She groaned as they fell to the ground. Bending, Sarah stilled when a shoe suddenly appeared before her eyes, as if by… magic. She smiled and righted herself immediately, beaming at the form before her.

"Charlie!" she greeted happily. Charlie grinned crookedly and took her groceries from her. They entered the apartment and made their way to the kitchen, where Sarah put her things away.

"So, you're meeting my mum tomorrow night," Charlie said casually, leaning against the kitchen door frame. Sarah dropped the jar of peanut butter she had been holding and it rolled underneath the kitchen table.

"T-tomorrow?" she stuttered. Charlie gave her an apologetic grimace. Sarah groaned and crawled beneath the table to retrieve the peanut butter. She didn't come out, however, instead choosing to lie on her back underneath the table. Charlie smiled and crawled under the table with her, lying on his side and looking over her.

"Nervous?" he asked. Sarah gave him a pointed look that read all too clearly as 'duh'. Charlie laughed. "Yeah, me too. But it'll be okay."

"I just want to make a good impression," Sarah confessed, turning the jar of peanut butter over and over in her hands. "What if she doesn't like me?" Charlie took her hand and kissed it gently.

"She'll love you," Charlie reassured her. "How can she not?"

Sarah blushed. "Then why are you nervous, if you're so convinced she'll love me?"

"Because we got married without her, and after an insanely short engagement period," he replied dryly. Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"There was no engagement period," she reminded him.

"Exactly."

"Oh." The couple was silent for a moment. Charlie suddenly slid from underneath the table and stood.

"Alright! That's it. No more being nervous. She's just my mum, after all." He clapped his hands together. Sarah still remained under the table. He reached down and grasped her protruding legs and pulled swiftly, sliding her along the tile. Sarah squealed as he pulled her from her hiding place and straddled her where she lay. Laughing, she let the peanut butter fall from her hands as she struggled to get up. Charlie captured her hands in his and pressed them above her head.

"It'll be fine," he said seriously. Sarah nodded, but she got the feeling he was telling himself that just as much as she was telling her. Charlie leant down and kissed her softly, and Sarah felt herself melting into his embrace. When he kissed her like that, Sarah had a hard time feeling like things were anything other than okay.

After a few more minutes of tenderness, the couple finally got off the floor and finished unpacking her groceries. The two chatted about work and school and the like, comfortably moving about one another as if they'd been together for years.

The next day, Charlie went back to Romania and Sarah went to another day of classes. She was a nervous wreck, however, and Veronica was able to see it. The pair grabbed some lunch together, where Veronica brought up Sarah's odd behavior.

"Are you alright?" Veronica asked as she took a sip of her soda. "You seem a bit… twitchy."

"I'm meeting Charlie's mom tonight," Sarah replied dully. "I'm so nervous!"

Veronica raised an eyebrow. "Ah. Yes, well, that's quite understandable. Molly Weasley is a very protective woman."

"I just want her to like me," Sarah said. "Charlie and I have known each other…" she counted on her fingers, "around three weeks, and we're already married. I just want her to look past all that and see _me_." Veronica nodded and leaned back in her chair.

"Sarah, you need to calm down. You and Charlie have blown this entire thing out of proportion," she replied. "So what if you got married? Charlie's a grown man; he can make his own decisions."

Sarah still looked rather uneasy. "It's not just that, Ronnie," she said slowly. "I just… I mean, I'm not like them- you. I'm not magic." It was silent for a moment, before Veronica burst into loud laughter. Sarah looked bewildered.

"Oh, Sarah, is that what's got you in a tizzy?" Veronica asked between giggles. "The Weasley's are some of the biggest muggle lovers in the wizarding world."

"Really," Sarah asked, her mood peaking somewhat. Veronica calmed herself and nodded.

_"Yes," _Veronica replied. "The father- Arthur- will love you for simply being a muggle. And you mentioned that you met Bill and the twins. You've got people on your side, Sarah!" Veronica shook her head, a smile on her face. "You will be fine. Trust me."

Sarah felt most of her anxiety leave her body at these words. She smiled tentatively at Veronica. While she still had some misgivings, Sarah knew one thing for certain.

Tonight was definitely going to be interesting.

* * *

Blaargh. So, I've written this chapter probably five times. I still don't like it. It moves the story forward, but nothing special happens.

So the next chapter, which will be up next Friday, is the one many of you have been waiting for- Molly and Sarah finally meet!


	15. Chapter 15

Hehe, you guys are so funny! I got so many "I CAN'T wait for Friday" reviews. I am posting this early Saturday morning, because I had a crazy Friday and didn't get time to post it when I originally wanted to. Sorry for making you wait!

**Title: **Must Love Dragons  
**Rating: **'T', _until further notice_.  
**RFR: **Language, alcohol, and some violent scenes.

**Summary: **Sarah Beth Adams was your normal college student. That is, until one day, she discovered a dragon in her backyard. What's a girl to do?

**Chapter 15 Publish Date: April 17th, 1:07 am.  
**

* * *

Sarah blew out a shaky stream of air as she stood before the full length mirror in her bedroom. She nervously smoothed down the front of her dress as she examined herself. Charlie sat on the bed, watching her as he pulled on his shoes. He chuckled low in his throat.

"You look beautiful, Sarah," he said levelly, "Stop fussing."

Sarah shot him a look in the mirror, but didn't say anything. She was dressed in a chocolate colored wrap dress with sleeves that came to her elbows. It was simple and looked good with her purple hair… oh god, her hair! Sarah's hands shot up to her plum colored hair, which fell in soft waves about her face and over her shoulders. She turned to Charlie with a look of horror on her face, clutching at her purple locks.

"I forgot about my hair!" she yelped in panic. Charlie's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Er… it looks fine?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, I forgot it was purple! What's your mother going to think?"

"Merlin, Sarah!" Charlie said affably, "You need to relax!" He stood up from the bed and stood before Sarah. Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her gently. After a few moments, he pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Better?"

Sarah nodded, but Charlie didn't release her. His gaze turned curious and he seemed to be pondering something.

"Erm, you okay?" Sarah asked.

"What's your natural color?" Charlie asked inquisitively. Sarah laughed.

"Just brown," she replied. She stood on tip toes and pecked him on the lips, before brushing past him to slide on her shoes, a pair of little gold ballet flats. Sliding into a wool coat, she turned to Charlie.

"Alright," she said. "Let's do this!"

As Charlie wrapped his arms about her, Sarah screwed her eyes shut as he prepared to disapparate. Sarah knew, however, that the butterflies and gut wrenching drop in her stomach were not from the magic.

Sarah stumbled back from Charlie as the world spun around her. She clutched her head tightly as it pounded, and struggled to force down the nausea. Charlie quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and supported her as she fought to regain her composure. After a few moments, Sarah felt comfortable enough to stand on her own. When she opened her eyes, she was relieved to find that the world around her was quite stable.

She looked about herself curiously. They were outside, standing in the dark at the end of a dirt lane. She looked inquisitively at Charlie.

"The house is just around the bend," Charlie said, answering her silent inquiry. "I wanted to give you a chance to catch your bearings before being accosted by my mother."

Sarah, not quite trusting herself to speak yet, simply smiled and nodded her thanks. Charlie gently took her hand in his, and the pair strolled leisurely down the lane. It was a cold night, and Sarah was thankful to have worn her heavy wool coat. She could already feel goose bumps on her exposed legs. The walk was a quick one, however, and soon enough Sarah could see the bright lights of a building. She gaped at it as they approached the house. It was like someone had just added onto it as they needed room- though, in a very haphazard way. It had many crooked windows and rooms, and from where Sarah stood, she counted at least three chimneys.

Charlie looked at her for a reaction. He wasn't disappointed. Sarah gave him a wide grin.

"Oh, Charlie! It's awesome!" Sarah exclaimed. "You grew up here?" Charlie nodded, and felt himself smiling as he heard her utter another 'wow' under her breath.

As they approached the Burrow, Charlie suddenly slowed, pulling Sarah back with him.

"Sarah, there are going to be more than just my family there," he said. "A few family friends and the like." Sarah felt her butterflies return full force.

"What?"

Charlie sighed. "My mum always throws a big dinner every time one of her sons brings home a girlfriend," he replied, "But everyone is really nice. Don't worry."

Sarah forced a smile. "Right. No worries."

Charlie started walking again, but this time it was Sarah who held back. Charlie glanced back to see Sarah looking down at her ring, rotating it slowly around her finger.

"Having second thoughts?" Charlie teased. Sarah grinned but shook her head.

"Charlie, I've been thinking," she said slowly, "Maybe we shouldn't wear our rings tonight." She looked up and saw his dubious gaze. "I mean, it'll be really awkward if we just march in there with rings on. We should probably wait for a more private moment to tell your mum and dad."

Charlie thought it over for a moment. She had a point… He held up his hand and slid off his ring, before reaching for Sarah's hand. He gently slid the ring from her finger and put it and his own in his coat pocket. He brought Sarah's hand upward and, rotating it, tenderly kissed the palm of her hand.

Sarah, her heart set beating wildly by the gesture, smiled shyly at him. "Thank you," she murmured. Their hands still intertwined, the pair continued trekking down the path to the Burrow.

"Do you think they'll come?" George asked Fred slyly. "I mean, Sarah might be getting cold feet…"

Inside the Burrow, the twins and a few others mingled about. The majority of the party was out in the backyard, where a long table was set up. Though it was November, and very cold outside, the Weasley's had spent the afternoon filling jars with blue flame and set them floating about the party space. The backyard was actually quite warm now- comfortable enough to pass the time by in sweaters and long sleeved shirts rather than coats and scarves.

"I can't wait to meet her!" Ginny interjected excitedly. She had finally made an appearance at the Burrow, along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Ginny had been practicing hard with the Holyhead Harpies, but she had managed to get some time off to meet her brother's new girlfriend. Harry sat next to her on the couch, in complete relaxation. He always treasured his time at the Weasley's. Though he had defeated Lord Voldemort many months before, his work at the Auror Department kept him busy- many Death Eaters and other supporters of the Dark Lord were still out there.

"It will be interesting to see Charlie with a girlfriend," Hermione mused. Ron wrinkled his nose.

"Yeah, he hasn't dated much since Veronica…" Ron said. "Glad those two called it quits though… I never really liked her."

Bill gave him a pointed look. "You just didn't like her because she was a fan of Puddlemere United and said the Chudley Cannons couldn't play the game to save their lives."

Ron looked unconcerned and, if nothing else, slightly quizzical. "Right. So?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as the talk turned to Quidditch. She turned to Ginny, in the hopes they might be able to catch up, but Hermione should have known. Ginny was just as eagerly listing of various stats and arguing about the players currently on the field. Ginny was particularly vicious in her critique of the Tutshill Tornadoes. One of their beaters had clocked her pretty bad in a previous game, and she had yet to let loose her grudge. Harry was also pretty fired up about the discussion- arguing hotly with Bill about various techniques on the field.

Hermione didn't have to sit through the Quidditch talk long. There was a scuffling at the door. Everyone paused and stood as the door opened.

"Hey! Good to see… oh. It's just you," George trailed off.

"That's nice," Percy said as he crossed the threshold of the door. "Good to see you too."

Things had mostly cleared up between Percy and his family, but his brothers still tended to mock him, though it was more out of habit than anything else. Percy quickly shook hands with Harry and greeted Hermione before joining the rest of the party in the backyard. He hadn't been back there more than a few moments, when the front door opened once more.

Sarah held her breath as Charlie opened the door and stepped inside. He gently pulled her in after him. Sarah only dragged her feet a little bit. She blinked a bit as the warm light washed over their bodies, but she was soon greeted with a cramped but cozy kitchen. Charlie led her around the table and into the adjoining room, where Sarah could hear the low murmur of voices.

Charlie grinned as he saw his brothers and sister lounging about in the living room. He wasn't surprised to see Harry and Hermione there as well.

"Well, well- the couple has arrived!" George said, crossing the tiny room to give Charlie a hug. He slapped Charlie on the back a few times before pulling away to look at Sarah. "Hello, Sarah," George said gently, a wide grin on his face. He ducked down and gave her a hug as well, though a little bit more delicately than the one he gave Charlie. Sarah laughed nervously as he pulled away, and she tugged at the end of her hair.

Charlie and Sarah moved fully into the room, when Charlie turned to her with a proud grin. "Sarah, you know Bill, Fred and George." Sarah waved shyly. "This is Ron, my youngest brother, and Ginny."

Harry and Hermione hung back slightly as Ginny and Ron greeted Sarah. Ron was awkward as usual, but Ginny was a bundle of energy.

"It's great to meet you!" Ginny said happily as she shook Sarah's hand, "I'd say we've heard a lot about you, but Charlie's been hiding you away from us." Ginny gave Charlie a pointed look. Charlie and Sarah both managed to hide guilty grins, but only just. Ginny took Sarah's hand and pulled the older woman after her. Sarah, still nervous, threw a crooked smile over her shoulder at Charlie, who was watching her as he stood with Bill and the twins.

"This is my fiancé, Harry Potter," Ginny said, gesturing to the black haired, green eyed boy who was standing by the couch. Harry was grinning broadly as he shook Sarah's hand. "And, of course, Hermione Granger."

Charlie, of course, knew Sarah wouldn't recognize the name of Harry Potter, much less Hermione or Ron's, but he noted the look in Harry's eyes as he prepared for some sort of reaction from her. He knew that Harry wasn't a fan of his celebrity status, but since the defeat of Lord Voldemort, his fame had skyrocketed. Ron and Hermione had also been mobbed once or twice by various fanatics. Charlie didn't miss the quick flash of surprise in both Harry and Hermione's eyes when Sarah simply shook their hands with a smile.

"It's great to meet you all," Sarah said politely. There wasn't much more time for introductions, however, as Fleur came in from outside. Sarah couldn't stop herself from gaping with her mouth hanging open. She was the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen, with silvery hair that glowed in the soft light of the living room. Fleur, having originally come in to find Bill, stopped in the doorway as she laid eyes on Sarah.

"Ah, you must be Sarah!" Fleur said amiably. She breezed gracefully across the room and kissed Sarah on both cheeks before she had a chance to blink. "Bill haz told me much about you!" She looked over Sarah's shoulder to see Charlie. "Bonjour, Charlie! Ze others are out back, waiting for you. Molly had sent me to see eef you had arrived yet. And here you are!"

Chuckling, Bill took his girlfriend gently by the arm. "Sarah, this is Fleur, my fiancé."

"Oh, I am so sorry!" Fleur gasped. "I forgot to introduce myself. Forgive me." She shook her silvery head and gestured towards the door. "Still, ze others are waiting…"

Everyone got the hint and began filing out into the backyard. Sarah and Charlie were among the last to leave, and as they neared the doorway, Sarah looked up quizzically at Charlie.

"The dinner is outside? But, it's so cold!"

Charlie laughed. "Magic, Sarah, magic." Sarah's mouth formed a little 'O' and she flushed as she remembered. Laughing, she nodded her head.

"Right, I forgot."

The backyard of the Burrow had been transformed into a comfortable outdoor dining room. Sarah didn't feel cold in the slightest and in fact, she unbuttoned her wool coat and let it hang open. There was a long wooden table that was laden with food and plates and glasses, but no one had yet sat. Sarah felt something bump against her head and she jumped slightly. Turning, she saw it was a floating bell jar with some sort of blue light in it. Tentatively, Sarah reached upward and gently pushed the floating container away. To her surprise, the jar was hot, but not uncomfortably so. As Sarah gazed about the backyard, she saw that the air was filled with the lazily floating jars.

"Cool," Sarah breathed. Charlie laughed.

"See? Magic."

The pair did not go unnoticed for long. There was a loud chorus of 'Hey, Charlie!' and 'How you doing mate?' as the couple made their way towards the throng of people. Sarah held tightly to Charlie's hand as he led her through the frosty grass and to the head of the table, where several people stood chatting with each other. A tall, haggard looking man detached from the crowd and approached Charlie.

It was in the next few minutes that Sarah met Remus and Nymphadora Lupin- the latter of which vehemently asked Sarah to call her Tonks (though Sarah had no clue why), Percy Weasley- the last of the Weasley siblings, and an excitable little man in a top hat named Dedalus. Sarah also met a man named Rubeus Hagrid, who was very large and imposing, but also extremely kind. He gave Sarah's hand a whiskery kiss before slyly asking Charlie about his dragons. Sarah was also introduced to Alastor Moody, though people kept calling him 'Mad Eye'. It was not hard to see why. Alastor had one large bulbous blue eye that spun wildly in its socket every now and then. Sarah nearly had a heart attack when he popped it out and picked a hair off of it. Thankfully, his back was partially turned and Charlie managed to calm her down before anyone noticed.

Sarah had just managed to relax and enjoy the atmosphere when a plump, kind faced woman with flaming red hair approached the couple. The way Charlie suddenly straightened let Sarah know exactly who this was: Molly Weasley. She was accompanied by a man who could only be her husband, Arthur.

"You must be Sarah," Arthur said genially. "Molly's been in a tizzy all day, wanting to meet you."

Sarah blushed. "It's wonderful to finally meet you," she said, "Thank you for inviting me tonight."

"Oh, you're welcome, dear!" Molly patted Sarah gently on the arm. "When Fred mentioned that Charlie had a girlfriend, I just had to meet you!"

As Sarah and Molly exchanged polite niceties, Sarah was unaware she was being watched by other party-goers. Ginny was watching how Charlie stood close to Sarah and seemed to move with her; adjusting his body as Sarah shifted from one foot to the other. Ginny caught Hermione's eye and the two girls giggled. It was obvious: Charlie had it bad.

"So, how long have you two been seeing each other?" Molly asked innocently. Sarah fumbled for words, glancing over at Charlie.

Charlie scratched his head awkwardly. "Er, for a little bit, you know. Hey, the food looks great mum!"

Sarah, slightly startled by the quick change of subject, managed to catch up. "Yes, Mrs. Weasley. Charlie's told me all about your cooking."

Molly made a dismissive gesture with her hands. "Oh, it's nothing special. Just some things I threw together…" Sidetracked by the talk of her food, Molly called to the other guests and told them to take their seats. Sarah and Charlie were the first in their seats, grateful to have everyone's attention diverted with the promise of food. Charlie sat on Sarah's left, while Hermione sat on her right.

The food looked amazing. There was sweet potatoes, meatloaf, freshly baked bread, bowls of pasta, asparagus spears and green beans- and all of it smelled heavenly. As Sarah bit into her meatloaf, she could see that Charlie wasn't lying; Molly was a terrific cook.

During dinner, there was talk of family and work, which was fairly innocent enough, but after several minutes, the conversation turned to slightly more complicated things, especially for Sarah. Sarah soon found out that Hermione was a very intelligent young woman who worked for a department called Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic. Sarah had no clue what Hermione was talking about most of the time, but occasionally Charlie would whisper brief explanations to her when she needed it. Unfortunately, Sarah could not be an observer for long. Predictably, the talk turned to Sarah herself.

"I am assuming, from your accent, that you are American," Remus said from his place across from her. "Is that correct?"

Sarah, her cheeks burning from this sudden scrutiny, nodded. "Ah, yes. I'm from Washington State, actually. I moved to London in late August."

"What brought you to London?" Ginny asked curiously. Sarah's mind whirled as she searched for an answer. To tell the truth would reveal that she was a muggle, and _that _would reveal her and Charlie's marriage.

"Er, just needed a change of scenery," Sarah replied awkwardly. Hermione rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"There are a couple good schools in the States, if I remember correctly. Salem Witches Institute, I think, is considered a pretty good one," Hermione said.

"I suppose," Sarah answered. She threw Charlie a frantic glance. Charlie attempted to save her- and him.

"So, Ginny, how is practice with the Harpies?" he asked quickly. His diversion didn't work.

"I'll tell you later, Charlie," Ginny responded. "I want to get to know Sarah!"

Molly laughed from her spot a few places down. "Yes, Charlie. Now, how did you two meet?"

"Ah, I met Sarah in Romania," Charlie answered. Molly cocked her head to the side.

"Romania? What were you doing in Romania, Sarah?"

"I was on a trip for some work," Sarah replied. She had a sinking feeling in her chest. This had been a horrible idea. She didn't know what she and Charlie were thinking in attending the dinner. Of course people would want to know what she did, where she was from, and all that. This was not good.

At the other end of the table, Bill and the twins had similar thoughts going through their heads.

"Looks like the cat's gonna be outta the bag any minute," Bill muttered to George, who nodded in agreement.

"What kind of work do you do?" Harry asked curiously. Charlie winced. Well, at least they'd gotten to eat before the truth came out. Sarah fumbled around for an answer, but Charlie stopped her.

"She's a student," Charlie replied, "She was on a trip for her school when I met her."

There was some confused silence at this statement. There was no wizarding university- any additional training was given by the employer. And Sarah was obviously too old to be attending Hogwarts…

"I'm confused," Ron said around a mouthful of potatoes. Charlie rolled his eyes and turned his attention to his parents.

"Sarah attends a muggle university. She's studying cultural anthropology and archaeology. She was in Romania for a dig," he said clearly. Comprehension dawned on Arthur's face first.

"Ah! So you're a muggle?" Arthur looked as if Christmas had come early. The other guests murmured amongst themselves in surprise, but no one seemed to be angry. Sarah felt hopeful.

"That explains your tight lips about American wizarding schools," Hermione said logically. "You don't know any."

Sarah smiled apologetically. "Yes. I'm afraid I also don't know what the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures does, but it was fascinating to listen to you."

Everyone chuckled lightly at that and the slightly tense mood lifted. Charlie looked at his mother apologetically who, to his surprise, smiled gently at him.

"Oh, Charlie. You could have told us. You know how we feel about muggles." Molly looked past Charlie and beamed warmly at Sarah. Sarah breathed a visible sigh of relief.

"I am curious, however," Arthur said, his tone tinged with stern admonition. "As to why you broke the law about muggles knowing about magic." He glanced from Sarah to Charlie. "If the wrong people in the Ministry find out, Charlie, you could be fined and Sarah could have her memory altered. Only married couples are exempt from the rule."

Charlie and Sarah looked pointedly away. It didn't take long for everyone to figure it out.

"You're MARRIED?" Molly yelped. Silence fell over the table. The non-family members, such as the Lupins, Dedalus Diggle, and Hagrid, all looked highly uncomfortable. Charlie sighed and reached into his pocket. Everyone watched in disbelief as Charlie pulled out two rings and slid one on his left ring finger, before taking Sarah's hand and doing the same for her. Sarah, the butterflies in her stomach returning full force, looked around the table to see the reactions of the people around her.

Most were surprised, with the obvious exception of Fleur, Bill and the twins, but Sarah was surprised to see that Ginny had a smirk on her face. Sarah, almost afraid to look, glanced up the table where Arthur and Molly sat. Arthur looked a little confused, but he had a small smile on his face. Molly, on the other hand, had turned white as a sheet. Her eyes flickered from Charlie, to Sarah, to the rings on their fingers, and back to Charlie again.

It was silent. Then, Molly's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fell backward off her bench, in a dead faint.

* * *

"HOW CAN YOU HAVE GOTTEN _MARRIED_?"

After Molly had fainted, the extraneous guests at the Burrow had quickly taken their leave, deciding to leave this particular affair to the family. Harry and Hermione had remained behind, however, due to their deep connections with the Weasley's.

Molly, after being revived, had promptly stalked inside the house, with Charlie and Arthur hot on her tail. All three were currently upstairs somewhere, arguing so loudly their words drifted down to the living room. It was here that Sarah sat miserably, surrounded by Bill, the twins, Ron, Percy, Ginny, Hermione and Harry. Fleur returned from the kitchen with a cup of tea in her hands. She handed it to Sarah, who took it listlessly.

"So… married?" Ginny asked with a devilish grin on her face. "How long have you known each other again?"

"About three weeks or so," Sarah responded quietly. She took a sip of her tea, but pulled away, sputtering violently. "What kind of tea is this?" Sarah coughed, her eyes watering.

"I put some Firewhisky in it," Fleur replied, "I thought you might need some."

"THREE WEEKS!"

The group jumped as another loud shout trailed downstairs. Sighing, Sarah cleared her throat before gulping down the tea in one go. Making a face, she returned the now empty cup to Fleur.

"Thanks. I needed it."

Bill crossed the room and sat on the couch next to Sarah. He patted her gently on the back. "It'll be okay, Sarah. Just, try not to stress so much."

Sarah managed to smile at Bill in thanks. "I hope you're right," she mumbled.

There was a slamming noise upstairs, followed by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Charlie emerged moments later, an annoyed look on his face. Sarah stood, slightly unsteady already from the Firewhisky.

"Is everything okay?" Harry asked. Charlie shook his head.

"She's pretty wound up," he replied. "But I expected that."

Percy snorted. "How could you not? You got married because you were both drunk."

Charlie turned to Percy and gave him a dangerous glare. Percy swallowed his next words and adjusted his glasses. He didn't say anymore. Charlie sighed and held his hand out to Sarah, who took it gratefully.

"Let's go home. We'll give her a few days to cool off."

As the pair got ready to leave, the others- aside from Percy- offered their opinions on the matter.

"Ah, who cares if you were drunk," Ginny said. "I'm glad to have met you, Sarah." Ginny gave Sarah a warm hug, nearly making Sarah cry.

"Thank you," Sarah replied. "I really appreciate it."

They said their goodbyes and left quickly, striding away from the Burrow purposefully. However, as Charlie turned to hold onto Sarah to apparate, he noticed the tears beginning in her eyes.

"Hey," he said softly, looking at her intently. "No tears. Don't worry about it." Sarah sniffed and looked away.

"I'm sorry for creating this argument," she replied. Charlie sighed and gathered her in his arms.

"We both did this, Sarah," he said. "And despite the results, I'm not regretting it. Are you?"

Sarah looked up at him, gazing thoughtfully into his eyes. This man truly was amazing to her. Many others would have immediately left to dissolve the marriage, but for some reason, Charlie held on to her. Sarah stood on her tip toes and kissed him. Charlie, smiling slightly into the kiss, turned them slowly on the spot, and they vanished together.

_

* * *

Please Review_


End file.
